Things I love about Hypnobabies so far

So, this pregnancy, instead of opting for an epidural, I've decided to try Hypnobabies. There are several reasons but the most important one is the lasting side effects I've had from my 3 epidurals, and my desire to prevent that from worsening. (I have scarring in the epidural space. The anesthesiologist was actually unable to give me an epidural in the standard place last time and had to go up quite a ways to not cause me excrutiating pain. I have throbbing pain at the sites of the scarring when I get a migraine.)

I've been doing the program (we're doing the Home Study course) for over a week now. Yes, just my second week! (It's a 6 week course.) Already, I have found so many benefits to it. I can't believe I never discovered this sooner.

I had pubis symphasis disfunction my last pregnancy. This time the aching pain in the hips and pelvis had started up, the hips popping every time I moved, etc. Within ONE NIGHT of listening to my Pregnancy Affirmations cd-- just one night! One listen!-- I woke up the next morning, heard my hips pop-- and felt no pain. Instead, I had the thought, "This is normal for the stage of pregnancy I am in. My body is preparing for my birthing time." So the physical state I was in remained the same-- but my Pregnancy Affirmations (one of which is "my bodily functions remain normal for the stage of pregnancy that I am in) re-programmed my brain after ONE listen to re-interpret that as a wonderful normal sign of getting ready to birth my baby, not pain. Wow!

Another affirmation is "My blood pressure remains normal every day and every night." I'd been having low blood pressure dizzy spells pretty frequently (I get those a lot when pregnant.) I haven't had one in over a week (they were every day, sometimes twice a day, for the last month before that.)

This week I have learned the "Finger Drop Technique" to put myself into a state of deep hypnotic relaxation instantly for as long as I want, tune out everything but emergency-type input, and experience anesthesia all through my body (by turning my "light switch" off to shut down all non-essential-for-life muscles etc.) It is incredible! So relaxing, comfortable, and takes away all the discomforts, aches, etc. I am feeling. It cured my migraine the other day!

I also am healing emotionally from what I went through after Maggie's birth (now believed to be PTSD. I meet all the criteria...) I have not had nightmares at all, or anxious thoughts or panic attacks about my birth or being separated from my baby, in the last week. This is incredible and wonderful. I can't wait until later on in the program when I get to do the "Fear Clearing" sessions and hopefully let go and heal even more. I have been thinking only positively and with joy and loving anticipation of what a wonderful birth I am going to have, instead!

So, um, yeah, by the time I'm ready for my birth I am going to sound like a walking Hypnobabies infomercial, I'm sure. But really, this is GOOD stuff! If you're interested you can learn more on their website, and they have wonderful birth stories on there too. I will be thrilled to be able to write mine! I'm sure I'm going to have a beautiful, comfortable birth with the help of the self-hypnosis techniques I'm learning and the relaxing, wonderful scripts from Hypnobabies.

I'm weird.

This comes home to me several times a day right now.

I don't "nest" like most women do at the end of my pregnancy, typically; I do it now, at the end of the second/beginning of the third trimester, and it takes the form of buying lots of baby clothes and an urge to scrub the bathtubs and sinks out frequently.

I don't consider essential many things many parents do for their babies; we registered at Babies R Us and we won't have a crib, won't have an infant seat, won't have baby gates (well I suppose we might put up the one we got for the top of the stairs, and never put up), won't have plug covers, won't have a nursing cover (HATE), won't have a baby bathtub, won't have sooo many things (though I do have a breast pump and will have bottles this time, but not by choice; so that baby can be supplemented with colostrum during her too-jaundiced-to-nurse-effectively period, not formula)... On the other hand, I could NOT live without a ring sling with a newborn! And we did buy a cover for our mattress, since baby will be sleeping on it with us. (Yes, we're co-sleeping-- without a co-sleeper. Again.)

I know many women who have problems with high blood pressure while pregnant. I, on the other hand, have problems with LOW blood pressure.

In all, some of these things are out of my control; some are choices I make. Some I am proud of, some I don't care, some I would change if I could. In the end, I'm glad my family loves me as I am, and I think that the world would be a better place if there was sometimes less expectation of "normality..."

(Ask me sometime about the Naked School of Socialism if you want a laugh, though. ;) )

And it's a...

...GIRL!

Yep, we'll be having a fourth girl join us probably in late December (maybe early January if she wants to annoy her Abba. ;) ) She is healthy and whole and developing well. I'm very excited. :D

I have a notch on my placenta, which apparently puts me at higher risk for high blood pressure later in the pregnancy. Normally Dr. Devore would recommend a regimen of daily baby asprin, but I have asthma so it's contraindicated. So, just have to live healthy, I guess. Since I'm trying to do that anyway (and losing weight so far!) it hopefully won't be a problem.

Reno, due date, and heat wave

Yes, it's a dumb title. No, I don't feel like coming up with something else. :p

We went to Reno for Jeff's "Super Seminar" CE conference. He didn't take afternoon classes, so he was "home" at the hotel every day by 3:30. It was nice! We went swimming while there, went to their Planetarium (where we saw a pretty decent film about Saturn, and then Emma and I watched a truly EXCELLENT film called "Mysteries of the Nile" about white-water rafting from the source of the Nile all the way to the Mediterranian (Jeff was with Bridey and Maggie who were not up for another hour in the theater, though later Bridey wanted to come in-- oops, too bad. But maybe we can find it on Netflix or something because it was really good, I'd watch it again and I think Jeff would enjoy it!) Before we left we visited the Reno 1st Ward's Sacrament Meeting, and the Bishop there (whom Jeff had called earlier in the week) was so kind as to hunt out soy-free bread for the Sacrament so Maggie and I could take it. It was really wonderful how happy he was to help us!

The drive there and back, however, was NOT fun. It was hot. Our A/C didn't work at full capacity. And we passed through much stinky farm land, not fun at the best of times but abominable with my pregnancy-heightened super-smell and nausea. Also, on the way there I discovered that sitting in the same position in the car for 10 hours makes me swell up really badly right now. I moved around as much as possible, but it took 24 hours of lying around with my feet up to drain all that fluid from my legs! While in Reno, we found a maternity store where I could buy compression stockings. I wore them on the way back and they did help. Of course by the end of the drive back since my legs and feet couldn't swell, my HANDS started to instead! Ick.

This past Saturday I had an ultrasound to determine my due date (since my last period was in November...) I am a bit further along than I thought! My EDD is December 23! That means today, I am 12 weeks 4 days. Wow! We got a great shot, you can see facial features already! Hopefully I'll be able to get coverage and go to see my doctor SOON.

We had a nice cool overcast Saturday, but Sunday it burned off and yesterday was HOT. Today is shaping up to be the same. I have to say I prefer heat to cold-- but I am glad we have central air in the house we're in now, when things get bad! Last night I put some clothes on the line at 5:30. When Jeff brought them in at 8, they were all bone-dry already, even the jeans! Wow! Thankfully we're approaching the longest day of the year (also our wedding anniversary :) ) so soon it will start to get dark a wee bit earlier again (though that always seems to happen slower than the sudden way it seems to stay light so long!)

Things that irritate me when I'm pregnant (a vent)

1. The cat keeps pooping in the corner of the bathroom instead of the litter box. It is bad enough when it is in the litter box but without any absorption whatsoever it STINKS. I am super smell sensitive when pregnant, moreso even than usual, and that's just not nice.

2. The kids keep changing clothes just for the heck of it. I am so tired I'm not even keeping up with NORMAL amounts of laundry, much less that generated by 3 girls changing clothes 4 times a day.

3. It's awful hard to make dinner when you have severe food aversions all over the place.

4. It is SO HARD to get health coverage for the pregnancy. Especially when you didn't have a period and you don't therefore have an easy-to-calculate due date. They REQUIRE a due date to get coverage. If we don't figure something out I'm just gonna have to make up a "last period" date based on how far along I think I am. I don't like having to do stuff like that.

5. I hate that my migraines get worse when I'm pregnant. Isn't it bad enough being pregnant, without adding migraines into the mix? When not pregnant I get maybe 2-4 a year. When pregnant, I get at least 2 a month. Often more. Gah.

6. Women who tell me, "Oh, I've had 3 kids, and I was never sick more than a day with any of them!" Good for you. Go jump in a lake.

7. People who assume I want a boy. (I actually want a girl. Jeff wants a boy. Of course we'll be happy either way.) We were not "trying for that boy." We were trying for a BABY. So shut up. Along the same lines, "So if it's a girl, are you done, or are you going to KEEP trying for a boy?"

8. People who ask if I'm going to have my tubes tied after this. (This hasn't happened yet. Just wait until I get big and have 3 little kids out with me. It will. It happened last time, and that was only my third! I do get a kick out of asking those rude people if they've heard of the Duggars, though... They usually go into shock and I walk away laughing.)

9. People who find out what I have an aversion to, and keep talking about it on purpose. It's really not funny to make me puke. It hurts.

10. People who touch my tummy. If you're not my husband, and you're not my child, please don't.

It's a darned good thing that I get a baby at the end of this. That's what makes it worth it. But in the mean time some things really suck.

So, um, need to make a small correction...

In my birthday post I mentioned that I wasn't pregnant yet. Well, on the morning of the 22nd I took a pregnancy test for kicks and giggles and because I'd been throwing up a bit, tired, cranky, forgetful.

This was the result:



So, um, yeah. It was positive as soon as the pee crossed the test window (and it said "read at 3 minutes!")

I think I'm not too far along, but I haven't really got a clue, since I wasn't keeping track of ovulation, and I'm so irregular in my cycles (my last actual period was in November. The one before that in May of last year.) So I'll have to have that dated when I make it in to the doctor's. But I'm guessing late Jan. to early Feb.-ish would be right, possibly? We'll see. :)

Anyway, I'm thrilled, even though I'm sick. So, yeah, I was totally wrong.

To all my online friends who are recently pregnant (even though you probably don't read my blog)

I'm very happy for you. I really am. I wish you a healthy pregnancy and birth and baby, and as little discomfort and pain as possible.

I'm also kind of sad for myself. You see, I've been not preventing and/or trying actively to concieve for a year and a half now. This is the longest I've ever gone without being pregnant since I was married, and it's hard. Even though I relish the extra time babying Maggie, especially after what I went through her first year (now suspected to be PTSD), I'd really like another baby soon; I think we're ready.

So that's why I haven't posted on your threads to congratulate you yet, I'll try to get over myself and do it soon. Or at least by the time you have your babies be able to go in THOSE threads to congratulate you.

I do love all of you and your babies. Good luck! It's my problem, not yours.

Been busy and had no computer...

...that's why I've been away from my blog!

The kids did something to this computer about 3 weeks ago, and then two Wednesdays ago Jeff's laptop stopped working. He took it in (it's still under warranty) but they were real dumb about it, didn't call, and by the time he got it sent in they had had it 5 days already. Annoying. So now it's off to warranty repair la-la land and we have no clue when we'll get it back. *sigh* Thursday night Jeff finally fixed this computer, but since I'm in so much pain it's hard to even sit in the chair (stupid hips) I am not on much. Plus we had 3 birthday parties for Emma and Bridget this weekend! A tea party with my aunt Fri., a cowboy theme party with my mom's side at the park Sat., and then we went over to my dad's for lunch after church today (I only stayed the first hour, as usual lately when I make it at all, but the kids and Jeff were there for all 3.)

Jeff has been trying to clean up the apartment but he is not going nearly as fast as he had hoped (I've been unable to really walk, bend, pick things up for, oh, about 3 months now...) For some inexplicable reason he keeps falling asleep instead... (Can you say "three months of sleep deprivation," boys and girls?) So the place is still pretty much a mess. At this point we're prioritizing what NEEDS to be done before the baby comes home (oh, did I mention that two appointments ago I scheduled my induction for this Thursday? Yep! I'm dilating and effacing and I'm in too much pain to want to go past 39 weeks-- which I will be exactly this Thurs.) And then we're thinking Jeff will take a week or so off using the Paid Family Leave program we have here in CA (which thankfully his employer is awesome about supporting-- he won't have to use his vacation time concurrently or anything to take it.) That way we'll have time to do things like sort through and wash all the baby clothes, which we haven't really got around to (we're just gonna pull out a few basics for the first few days, and the bassinet, and a few sheets and diapers, until we can get everything done.)

Anyway, tomorrow is Bridey's birthday, so we'll let her choose what we have for dinner (since that's the family tradition); I have a feeling it will either be burritos or going to McDonald's or IKEA... She's going to be 2! She has become such a little PERSON, it's amazing. And she TALKS! You would never believe this was the child who was barely communicating until about 13 or 14 months of age. I guess she just wanted to wait until she could "do it right," because now she talks a mile a minute about all kinds of things (often in 5 to 8 word sentences.)

Other than that, mostly just counting down until the baby comes! I am so uncomfortable I cannot WAIT until she is out! WEll, besides just wanting to meet her, of course. And Jeff and I are having fun trying to guess how big she will be. He's thinking she's bigger than me by about 1/2 to 1 inch and 2-4 ounces, but we're both agreed she'll probably be somewhere around the size Bridey was when she was born. Probably not as heavy as Emma was (although maybe longer!)

Anyway, just wanted to catch up a bit since I haven't blogged in, like, weeks! Hope all my bloggy friends are well, and sorry I haven't been around much! :) I have pictures that some day I will post... Probably shouldn't hold your breath, though. ;)

...and sometimes, they actually learn what you try to teach them.

We went to the store today, the little Armenian grocery near our home. It's been really nice weather; I am trying to get out as much as possible while it lasts! (The walking is also good for my hips, and helps the baby not poke me so much.) We picked up some stuff for lunch and dinner, some more apple juice, milk, stuff like that (and of course a few treats.) Our fridge is still broken so we've only got our freezer and my mom's mini-fridge that we're borrowing, so it's been a bit of a pain keeping food in the house, we're averaging a trip to this store (the only one in walking distance, really, at least walking distance when this pregnant) about every 2 or 3 days. And lots of delivery in between.

Anyway, we were there at a kind of busy time of afternoon, I guess. There were several people with small children (6 or 7 and under-- several around 2 or 3) in the store at the same time. There also happened to be a man in an electric wheelchair, who had Cerebral Palsy. He was verbal only with great difficulty (I heard him talking in Armenian to the storekeeper at one point) but he had a big smile on his face the entire time we were there.

What made me happy today was the way my children reacted to this man who was differently-abled. The other children in the store stared rather worriedly, or kind of hid behind their mothers, and the older ones kind of pointedly looked away, trying not to be rude by "staring." Bridey saw him smiling and smiled back, waved, and said, "HI!" Then she turned and excitedly told me, "Mommy, man habe swollew wike me!" ("Man have stroller like me!") He laughed at this, and so did she, because she laughs when others laugh. Then Emma walked up and said, "Hi! How are you? My Aunt Mimi has a wheeled-chair like yours. I like it!" He burst out into the biggest, sunniest smile you can imagine.

As we were on the way home, Emma told me (in between bites of her ice cream), "I liked that man's wheeled-chair! I really liked it! Mimi uses a wheeled-chair too. I think they are fun." Then she told me, "That man holds his hands differently. But that is okay. He was nice."

I think they're gonna be okay.

Oh! And I forgot to mention...

...last night Jeff watched the video of the ultrasound I had on Thursday while we were waiting for the cheesecake to be cut. And because I needed to label it, he FINALLY agreed to finalize the middle name! So, here's the official name: this little girl will be Margaret Nancy (to be called "Maggie", or maybe even "Maggie Nan" by me. :) ) This is the longest we've ever taken to decide on a finalized name! So I'm quite glad it's done.

Little Miss Bigfoot

Okay, we knew Bridget was outgrowing her shoes, and that she has big feet. But this is getting crazy.

After my doctor's appointment (Miss Bigfoot the Youngest had fun kicking the doppler and giving the doc grief when he tried to listen to her heartbeat; he thought it was pretty funny) we dropped by the shoe store because Bridey has literally outgrown ALL her shoes. She hardly even got to wear the size 7 sneakers we bought last month. I measured her feet and she's more than 7 1/2, I had to buy her size 8 sneakers today. EIGHT!!! She is TWENTY TWO MONTHS OLD! Emma is just barely starting to creep up on the limits of her size eight shoes! I got Easter/summer church shoes for both of them and one pair was size 8 for Bridey, one was size 8 1/2 for Emma. (Church shoes give a little more growth room because they can wear tights or thin fancy socks instead of play socks with them.)

Now, hopefully Bridey will not grow so fast that I will have to buy her size 9 shoes before the summer is over... Even $13 Payless shoes get expensive when you have to buy a new pair each month!

Their Easter dresses also came UPS today (this dress in "Straw Yellow Daisy"; their cousins got the same dress in "Shell Pink Daisy") and I pulled them out to look at the size. Emma's looks perfect (got her a 5) but I'm going to have to try on Bridey's 3T before I decide whether it's big enough or whether to send it back and get a 4... She is just growing so fast!

Middle of the night snacking

Onion bagel with reduced-fat cream cheese and a can (yes, that's a whole can, folks) of freestone peach slices, drained. Mmmmmm.

Why am I telling you this? Because I can.

I remember the days...

...when doing ONE load of laundry did not cause me to be short of breath, dizzy, and thoroughly exhausted.

When eating dinner was not a chore that likewise exhausted me.

When I could interact with my kids without becoming so frustrated that I put MYSELF on time-out to avoid screaming.

When showering was part of my, if not daily, at least weekly routine, and not something I vaguely remember I used to do more than a few times a month, and baths, while nice, were not a near-nightly necessity for back pain.

Ah, the days gone by... As they say, "Welcome to the third trimester." :|

Time is a funny thing...

Sometimes, days and hours drag by so slowly. And yet Sunday, the one day we have together as a family right now, seems to fly by so fast.

I can't believe Sunday is practically over. I wish it weren't. I like seeing my husband now and then. ;) And yet, every day done is another day I don't have to wait for things...

Things I'm waiting for:

St. Patrick's Day. How can I not love a day when I wear my favorite color and make colcannon and listen to even more Irish music than usual? Although we traditionally have poached salmon with the colcannon, since I just like an excuse to buy some good salmon and cook it (well, it is a traditional Irish food source, too), this year I'm not sure I'm up for that much extra work. I'm thinking of getting ham steak instead and just serving fried ham with the colcannon. I doubt I'll be baking soda bread, either. In any case, colcannon is the main thing for me... 2 weeks, one day left until St. Patrick's Day.

Easter, because Easter is a great holiday. It's all joyous and happy; it's religious and intuitive all at once (how can you not celebrate Spring? And celebrating Spring goes perfectly hand-in-hand with celebrating the Atonement and the Resurrection.) And we get to hang out with my family and eat good food. And the kids get new matching dresses, which is always cute, and hunt eggs, which is cuter. 3 weeks left until Easter.

The end of tax season. That will be niiiice. I am very anxious to NOT have Jeff working 90+ hours a week (usually more.) And we'll finally be able to really get things ready for the baby to come. 6 weeks, 2 days left until April 15, the end of tax season.

The baby coming! So far we're planning on April 24 (when I will be exactly 39 weeks along) as the induction date. (I may not make it that far but if I can it would be a nice day, we think.) I'm looking forward to meeting the baby, of course, but also to just not being pregnant any more! It hurts. And to getting some REST in the hospital, I love my girls but I will really enjoy just having ONE for most of the day for a few days, and getting to bond with the newest little snuggler. Not to mention being waited on, never running out of diapers, not having to fight little ones over what I want to watch on tv... 7 weeks, 4 days left until my anticipated induction date and meeting Maggie.


What's funny is, when you put it in weeks, it doesn't seem that long-- but when you try to think ahead to it, your mind can't quite grasp how fast it might go, and each individual day still seems to go so slowly sometimes.

I remember waiting seemed so much slower when I was little. Perhaps it was because it was more of a percentage of my total life lived, and now it's less? If that's the case, is everything just going to keep speeding up as I get older? I can't believe my little baby Emma will be four on April 5... And Bridey will be 2 on the 21st of April. Soon after that I'll turn 25, and a month after that will be our fifth wedding anniversary! *sigh* I remember all that time, but it doesn't seem like years.

Time is such a funny concept.

I am officially, medically confirmed weird.

So, I just spent (counts) 9 hours in the hospital. I was so dizzy today that I couldn't stand up. This happens sometimes when I'm pregnant, but usually goes away within a few hours. After it had persisted 7, I called my doc who told me to go get checked out. After 2 more hours of procrastinating, I called my mom. She met us at the ER and watched the kids (we picked up Emma-- and dinner-- on the way) while I went up to L&D for monitoring (the ER won't do much of anything when you're pregnant without making them look at you first) and then back down to the ER. Then Jeff (who had come home from work when I fell) switched the car seats to her car, and left. Then I got to, basically, wait around while they watched my bp yo-yo (oh so fun-- readings ranged from 128/68 to 91/44, and everything in between), did an EKG, did a lie down-sit-stand monitoring test, took my temp, took a urine specimen, took blood, took blood again when the lab lost the blood... At one point my mom took the kids to her house, where unfortunately for her they did NOT sleep, and Jeff came back from work, and then left again, picked up the kids, and came back, and they finally released me, after telling me that I'm dizzy, giving me medication for it, which didn't help, and telling me not to stand up if when I stand up I get dizzy. Which is what I KNEW WOULD HAPPEN AND WHY I DIDN'T WANT TO GO IN IN THE FIRST PLACE... Ay.

The doctor could find no cause, and could not understand WHY this happens every time I'm pregnant. (Idiopathic labyrynthitis or something like that is the official diagnosis.) He said it seems I'm just weird. (He is very nice, and said that in a joking tone with a smile on his face. I like him a lot. He remembered me from two years ago when I came in for something else while pregnant with Bridey, when I had different glasses, different hair, and did I mention it was two years ago? :o Truth be told I remembered him too-- he's very nice and cool!)

I suppose it wasn't a complete waste of time-- I got to watch all the cute paramedics go by... *sigh* And at least I can now tell people that I am officially, medically confirmed weird. ;)

Next time I get dizzy I am not going in even if my doctor tells me to.

MY trip to the dentist went MUCH better than Emma's.

I haven't had dental insurance for a long time, like since before I was married, so I haven't been in years. My wisdom teeth have come in and are causing me great pain (one is in sideways and of course none of them have been sealed, like my other teeth, so prone to cavities because of the crowding they're causing.)

My dad gave us a ride, and he walked the kids to the library and the park while I was there (they were both just a few blocks down.) They only had to wait about 20 minutes at the end; they came in when it started raining.

After waiting almost an hour (only bad part), I finally was taken back for x-rays. That was the longest part of the visit-- it took a LONG time because I have crowded teeth, TMJD, and a VERY STRONG gag reflex. The dental technician ended up numbing my mouth with benzocaine and then sticking it in at the last second and saying "now" to the tech standing outside to get shots of my bottom, impacted tooth. Ay.

Then we got to the consult. The dentist says that yes, the wisdom teeth need out, and yes, I have cavities, but if my doctor and I are more comfortable waiting until the baby is here that's okay, as long as nothing changes. I have to floss every day, brush 2 or 3 times a day, and use mouthwash (all things I already do) and call if there is ANY change or increase in pain level. But she thinks that the cleaning I got today and daily maintainance will be enough to keep it at bay so I can get the work done after the baby comes. Yay! So I have an appointment for that for the middle of May-- I think the 15th. That will be a good time, I think.

BTW, we used 1-800-Dentist to find a dentist in our area that was open Saturdays, would take a pregnant woman (though of course I had a note from my doctor giving permission), and does oral surgery. She's the nicest dentist, and has about the nicest staff, I've ever encountered. So score one for 1-800-Dentist!

When I got back, my mom was here. (She came over right after we left.) She stayed for several more hours, and cleaned some more dishes and more of my apartment. Again. I love my mommy.

Now my dad is bringing me the first artichokes of the year! (He went to Bristol Farms, and they have the BEST artichokes and only the best!) Mmmm, I sense an artichoke in my future tonight or maybe tomorrow...

Quite a week.

It's just been one of those weeks. On Thursday last, Jeff was in a wreck. Our car will be in the shop for two weeks-- not cool. We had to buy a new car seat for Emma because hers was in the car; don't know when the insurance company's going to get around to replacing that one. I had to take her to the dentist on Sat. (I had noticed a spot on her tooth.) She has cavities. We have to take her in next Wed. to get them fixed (and it's going to be a doozie of a day then, too, since we have to take her fasting. Yikes.) Afterwards we hit the Mervyn's sale and IKEA-- which was a bright spot-- but Bridey decided she'd rather play than nap, and didn't nap at all. Jeff's last client came in late, and he didn't get there to pick us up until after 10. Then on the way home, we ran out of gas (stupid rental car only indicates that the tank is low at the last minute.) We had to coast to the nearest gas station (thankfully it was downhill most of the way) in the rain. Then as Jeff pulled up he realized-- the gas tank was on the other side. Thankfully, there was a guy there who helped Jeff push it around to where he could get it over. Then, turns out there was a problem with their machines, and they were only taking cash. We scrounged up $5 between the two of us-- we just don't carry much cash-- and that was enough to get us to the next gas station, where the card thing was working. Jeff went to church the next morning without us, because we all had a horrid cough and my head was throbbing and my throat was aching. It hasn't stopped since-- the head throbbing has eased up a bit, but the threat and cough remain. Grrr. As soon as I start to get over one thing I get another! Bridey too. (Emma was a little cranky but got over the bug in a day or two, it seems.) A few nights ago, I had contractions that didn't slow down unless I was lying down-- kinda hard to manage with 2 little ones running around. And Jeff's not getting home until between 9:45 and 10:30 now, pretty much every night. That was rough. Today Jeff had his second sitting of the Part 2 EA exam-- and again, missed passing by 2 points. So he'll have to take it again-- if he can find the time. He's upset because he didn't really get a chance to study-- between the wreck, dealing with Emma's insurance, and working 75 hours a week, not to mention two kids and a pregnant wife, he's tried, but not gotten much in. Not to mention, I apparently missed a sale on Radians at Babiesrus.com, which stinks, because it was, like, half off, and that would have been a really nice savings. We have to buy three so we can fit all 3 kids in our car once the baby comes. *cry* It's really expensive, and they just don't seem to go on sale hardly ever. When they do, they're gone within a few hours.

Hopefully things will ease up soon-- because this week has proved the truth of the saying, "When it rains, it pours." I don't think I can take the downpour much longer!

Sick AGAIN

I can count on one hand the number of times we've made it to church in the past 4 months. Literally. (A few times Jeff and Emma have been well enough to go without Bridey and me.) And tomorrow, we're not going to make it again.

We are all sick. We have an annoying post-nasal drippy thing going on that was so hard on Bridey last night she kept waking up from coughing and choking on snot. We finally gave her Sudafed at 2:20 am, thankfully it didn't make her hyper, or she was exhausted enough to get over that, because after that she dried up and went to sleep for the rest of the night. We did go out to the store today (thrift store, yay! Jeff STILL HAS NOT FOUND MY MATERNITY CLOTHES so I had to pick some big t-shirts and maternity pants up at the thrift store to hold me over. Hopefully he'll find my maternity garments before I have to buy new ones-- at best estimate I will last three more weeks before the regular garments just absolutely do not fit. Jeff found a t-shirt for me that says, "I'm PREGNANT, I'm UP and DRESSED, WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT?" I love it! I also got books and videos for Christmas presents-- part of our reduced consumption Christmas is that we buy gifts at the thrift store. The kids get one new gift each from Santa. Oh, and a beautiful wool coat for Emsie.) But we were careful not to touch things unnecessarily or, you know, breathe on people. Or let the kids do so. We don't want to spread this thing. And we're definitely not going to church like this, there are elderly people, immuno-compromised people, and premature babies in our ward. Not going to be responsible for making them sick!

Jeff is supposed to be studying for his EA exam right now (he's taking it-- well, part 1-- the 17th of Dec.) but I think he's watching tv or playing a game (he got a laptop for a graduation present. He's thrilled.) Oh, no, here he is, EA study guide in hand. Guess he's being good! (Now the kids have made him read one story before he gets to study. I guess that's allowed. ;) )

We had my appointment on Monday afternoon (after Bridey's Monday morning exam, and her SIX SHOTS-- what I get for postponing her vaccinations because she was always so sick and it didn't feel right to give them to her before; thankfully she had one day of fever from the MMR and it was over, and didn't freak out every time she saw the band aids like Ems used to.) The heart rate was good, the weight gain was good, I got a new prescription for phenergan (yay!), this time with 3 refills-- which should last, at the rate I take the stuff, until I'm 8.5 months pregnant, so I sure HOPE the morning sickness will be done with by then! I have settled into a routine of taking it every night before bed, and that keeps the sickness away until the next evening. I forgot last night and almost threw up before I took a half dose this morning. Then I slept, 'cause it makes me tired. So I just need to remember to take it before bed so that doesn't happen! He also confirmed that Zantac is just fine when I have severe heartburn.

My Uncle Bob is doing somewhat better with his therapy. (They have confirmed, it is ALS. :( ) He is home and receiving daily therapy and assistance from a home care worker. He has a hospital bed in his room and that is where he stays mostly, except during therapy. We went over the other day and we all stopped in his room to say "hi." He is very excited to find out the gender of the baby.

Oh, that's right-- the gender of the baby! I forgot to mention that we'll find out at the ultrasound, which is scheduled for Dec. 21. If, that is, the baby cooperates! I hope for Uncle Bob's and Jeff's sakes that it does. They'd go crazy! But I personally don't really want to know, never do. Jeff and I finally compromised when I was pregnant with Bridget that we'll keep finding out until we have at least one boy; then, with each gender covered, he's willing to let the one after that be a surprise.

I have had some seriously weird cravings lately. Last night I HAD TO HAVE black olives. And water chestnuts. And dill pickles. But that was only after I got over the craving for an ice cream sundae with (get this) vanilla ice cream, chunky peanut butter, strawberry jam, dill pickles, whipped cream, and tuna... I decided to pass on that one so as not to make Jeff and Emma sick. Previously in this (and other) pregnancies, I've had cravings, sure, but they were for things I already liked-- curry, tater tots, Chinese food, etc. The bizarre cravings of the last few days, the fact that I like peanuts this time around (aversions with the girls, very severe with Emma) and don't like pineapple pizza (which I have never liked EXCEPT while pregnant with the girls and occasionally while severely PMSing) have Jeff convinced this baby is a boy. We shall see!

So, um, that was pretty much our week. Not much else going on, save the, you know, tiredness and business and did I mention tiredness? Hope you are all well! Sorry I haven't been blogging much, I just haven't often had the energy!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today, I am thankful for phenergan and Zantac, which will enable me to actually eat Thanksgiving dinner.

Dinner's at my Aunt Linda's, at 5:30.

I'm bringing the green bean casserole (whoever's hosting gets to "assign" food. I got volunteered for this because it's easy and I'm pregnant.) Since I do not generally like green bean casserole (nor does my mom, nor do several other family members) I will be bringing petite peas with green onions in butter sauce as well.

Mmmmm. Someone around here is cooking sweet potatoes and I can smell it. If I opened the door I bet I would smell turkey, too.

Dang, I'm hungry. Time for my breakfast (microwave "baked" potato.) Yum, I can't WAIT for dinner!

Shopping: the good, the bad, and the painful

We had a shopping day today. USA Baby was having a sale; we didn't end up with any big-ticket items. We did end up with $60 worth of small ones, including things I'd been meaning to buy online but couldn't justify the shipping for; the sale price made them as cheap or cheaper than online prices, so I got them. We also got a very nice calming CD with instrumental arrangements of hymns and gospel songs that put the kids right out in the car and calmed my crankiness, and some cute and cool little pacifiers that snap closed to cover the nipple part when baby drops them (like this; we got two Bugsy Beetle patterned ones, one Lola Ladybug, and one Ethan Penguin.) Everything in the store WAS on sale, but unfortunately it was almost all only 15% off, not the higher-end discounts they had advertised so heavily, and most of it was overpriced to begin with. We did pick up some training chopsticks just because I have fond memories of learning to eat with chopsticks as a kid and even though Ems already knows how to eat with chopsticks, Bridey gets jealous and would like to learn too. And the price wasn't atrocious after the discount, so we figured why not.

Then we went over to the "Holiday Tent" at IKEA. We got all our gift wrapping stuff for Christmas.

Then since Macy's was right there and my aunt had given us some old Macy's scrip they never used for Jeff's graduation, we decided to do Macy's too. We got Jeff two dress shirts (one on sale, one on clearance) and a tie, then went downstairs so I could eye up all the baby stuff. The Christmas dresses were soooo cute. I really liked a few of them, but I knew we couldn't afford them (we had about $35 left after the shirts and tie, and that was before tax.) But then Jeff told me to choose the ones I liked, and buy them anyway; he said it was okay that it was a little more than I had budgeted for both dresses this year, that it was worth it to see me happy. I went and looked at the ones that I had loved the most-- and noticed a green notation on the tag. They were already marked down to $25 from $50, 50% off! With the additional 30% discount, that meant that both dresses would be $35 together, not $35 each, and just paying the tax was definitely within our budget! Then when I checked out, it turned out that the clearance shirt was on additional sale as well because of the brand it was, so it was $10 instead of $15 as it had been marked. So we walked away from checkout with two dress shirts, a nice tie, and two Christmas dresses for an out-of-pocket cost of $2.38-- less than the total tax on the items we bought!

Unfortunately, things then took a turn for the worse. As we were exiting, I slipped on a spill on the floor. (A "wet floor" sign was up, but on the other side of the walkway from the spill and behind a sign, not easily visible.) I cried out in pain as my back pain was immediately eclipsed by hard, painful contractions. My husband managed to help me limp over to a chair they pulled up for me. They gave me some water, took my information, and immediately cleaned the spill up better (apparently it had already been mopped, but not well) and moved the sign, as well as posting an employee to warn people away (which I was glad to see.) After a while the contractions were less, and I was able to walk out to the car. But they didn't stop on the ride home, or when I got home and put an ice pack on my back. I was worried, so we called around until we found someone to help with a blessing (our home teacher works late most Saturdays, and most every other night, unfortunately; he's a full-time student and has a full-time job as well to support his two kids and pregnant wife. I don't begrudge him supporting his family, of course, but it can be hard to reach him, so we often end up calling someone else for immediate needs.) He came right over and after the blessing, the contractions finally stopped (I had one during the blessing and then no more.) The pain in my back also got better (helped as well, I am sure, by the Tylenol and ice pack.) But all in all, it was a scary experience. Thank goodness, no bleeding, although I did have rather heavy cervical mucous discharge. If the contractions had not stopped, I was nearing the two-hour deadline I had given myself before I was going to have to call the doctor and probably go in. Instead, I laid back on the ice pack and we watched Evan Almighty (very funny, not at all disrespectful to religion, and really quite entertaining.) So I'm hoping this is pretty much the end to the incident, but we'll see.