Well, I've done it...I survived my first full week of bed rest.
The thing about bed rest is that it's not easy and it takes boring to a distrubing new level.
But, if everything works out and we become a family of four this December then all this time spent lazing around on my back wataching Netflix, reading until the words begin to blur and fighting the urge to get up and vaccuum, then this all will have been worth it.
Everyone wants to know how I'm feeling. Truth is, I feel great. In fact, I haven't battled nausea for the last 24 hours which is a welcome break from the last 5 weeks of wrapping my arms around the porcelain throne and begging for mercy. But then, if I think about it, I start to worry. "Where's the nausea?" "Why didn't I lose my lunch yet?" "Is something wrong?" Bed rest gives you way too much time to think about this kind of stuff. So, I bought a fetal doppler today on eBay. It will be here next week.
Next, everyone wants to know how Brock is doing. Aside from battling a little cold this week, he has been doing awesome. A HUGE shout out to Aunt Alison for watching him every day! Brock knows about the pregnancy and he is excited to become a big brother. He thinks the baby is a girl, but he knows that this pregnancy is no gurarntee.
Clarke is the real work horse around here. I'm admittedly wracked with guilt when I see him folding laundry, sweeping and grocery shopping. I think I can handle Clarke doing the dishes indefinitely, though. ;) In addition to tackling all of my daily chores around the house, Clarke is also dominating our garden, one row at a time. We usually work on the garden together, but this year he's flying solo. Oh, and Clarke also works full time and is the do-all parent right now. Clarke = Superman
Thanks to our parents for all your help and our friends and families for your thoughts and prayers!
Friday, May 27, 2011
Friday, May 20, 2011
Surprise: We're Pregnant!
It was just a joke. Kind of. In an effort to keep up my skills at taking pregnancy tests, I went ahead peed on a stick (POAS for the acronym crowd). The joke was entirely on me, however, when that second pink line appeared. Whoa. Holy Crap in a Hat! Omigosh. This has to be a joke. So I took 20 more tests and guess what: all positive. And that is no joke.
We're making this announcement 7 weeks prematurely as our original plan was to ambush family and friends with the news on July 4th, but circumstances have gone topsy turvy, as they usually do with a one of our pregnancies.
The good news is that our little gummy bear is perfectly healthy and has a very strong heartbeat. Morning sickness has been blessedly brutal, which is extremely reassuring.
The topsy turvy part is when my doctor prescribed bedrest ysesterday to keep me from miscarrying. I'm supposed to stay in bed for the next 4 weeks until I can go in for surgery next month to stitch me shut and keep the baby "in." If you recall, I had a problem with that when Amelia was born. The hospital won't allow the surgery until I'm 14 weeks pregnant, so that's that.
The reality is that nothing is guaranteed and even with all my restrictions and limitations, I could still miscarry. My doctor commented that if I carry this baby to term (36 weeks), it would be the delivery of the year. And who doesn't want to be the delivery of the year???
A HUGE thank you to family and friends who are keeping us in their prayers, helping out with Brock, my sainted husband who now has to do EVERYTHING around here from gardening, cooking, cleaning, laundry and parenting and to everyone will help us out these next four weeks.
Our latest endeavor is due December 20th.
We're making this announcement 7 weeks prematurely as our original plan was to ambush family and friends with the news on July 4th, but circumstances have gone topsy turvy, as they usually do with a one of our pregnancies.
The good news is that our little gummy bear is perfectly healthy and has a very strong heartbeat. Morning sickness has been blessedly brutal, which is extremely reassuring.
The topsy turvy part is when my doctor prescribed bedrest ysesterday to keep me from miscarrying. I'm supposed to stay in bed for the next 4 weeks until I can go in for surgery next month to stitch me shut and keep the baby "in." If you recall, I had a problem with that when Amelia was born. The hospital won't allow the surgery until I'm 14 weeks pregnant, so that's that.
The reality is that nothing is guaranteed and even with all my restrictions and limitations, I could still miscarry. My doctor commented that if I carry this baby to term (36 weeks), it would be the delivery of the year. And who doesn't want to be the delivery of the year???
A HUGE thank you to family and friends who are keeping us in their prayers, helping out with Brock, my sainted husband who now has to do EVERYTHING around here from gardening, cooking, cleaning, laundry and parenting and to everyone will help us out these next four weeks.
Monday, May 16, 2011
Wicked
Last Thursday took FOREVER to arrive.
Why?
Because I was harboring the uncontainable excitement of a 5-year old on Christmas Eve.
My mom and I had tickets to see 'Wicked.'
Eeeeee!
We were sitting with 'Wicked' veterans: Kevin, Carisa & Annette. Not only had they already seen the show, but the knew all the words to the music. Whereas, I have to admit that I had never in my life heard the music and was intrigued by the show's hype instead.
The show was AMAZING!!!!
It's based on the book 'Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West' by Gregory Maguire.
Who wouldn't be interested in the prequel to 'The Wizard of Oz?'
When I worked at the library, I saw this book come and go hundreds of times before I finally snatched it off the shelf and gave it a read. It took FOUR attempts to get through the story, which was horribly written and dark and boring. In short, the book is agonizingly awful. Don't read it.
Instead, go see the show!! It's an admission price you won't ever regret!
And then, you come home and purchase the soundtrack through iTunes and make your family listen to it over and over again until everyone can sing along to every song!
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Goings On...
I'm swamped with work which means that after a full day of staring at this computer screen, editing image after image, the very last thing I want to do is spend more time sitting in this very spot, blogging. So, here is the latest scoop on us.
1. Look Ma, no training wheels!
Perhaps it was a happy accident when Brock's training wheels, admittedly on the cheap side, bent into an awkward shape and made riding tricky for our first time biker boy. Instead of working his magic to bend them back into shape, Clarke just removed the training wheels and presented Brock with a big boy's bike. Like a new colt first learning to wobble, Brock is definitely not ready to spin around the neighborhood without daddy clutching firmly to his bike seat. But this is a start...
2. No more football! Yay! Oops, did I just say that out loud?
Ah, the luxury of not rushing off to football practice twice a week and planning our entire Saturday around the weekly game. A mom can get used to this. Brock's team, the Bears, won their very last game of the season last Saturday. Now we can kick back and wait for the madness of next football season...in four months. Gee 4 months, that's all?
3. Did you watch the royal wedding? Why yes, I did. Thank you for asking. Sometimes believing in the fairytale princess and the happy ending is good for the soul. And, yes, I know that she's not really a princess. Actually, what I found most entertaining was the hats. Why don't we Americans have corny traditions like outlandish head gear to one up each other at weddings and social events? Millinery is, sadly, a lost art here in the states.
4. Clarke and I went to see a movie...at the theater. I know, I know....cha-ching. We saw 'Water for Elephants' and it was surprisingly good and not exactly a chic flick. So man up guys. You CAN take your girl to see this movie and not walk out feeling like you "took one for the team."
5. We switched from Dish Network to Direct TV all in the name of college football, and one channel in particular: The Mountain. So far, so good.
6. Guess who is going to see 'Wicked' this week? Me! Yay!
7. Easter looked like this:
8. Mother's Day was great. Clarke made breakfast and he and Brock made me a card and gave me some hanging baskets for the front porch. We had no power at church and had to teach without lights or microphones. Fun times. Dinner was dutch oven at my parent's house, where we sat around and talked for hours while the kids wore themselves out, playing.
9. We planted our tomatoes last week. After months of FREEZING cold temperatures, we were finally able to put down our first plants. Of course, in the process, Clarke was met by a snake! A 20" garter snake. EW. Seriously gross and a guarantee that poor Clarke will have to do ALL the gardening by his lonesome this summer as I refuse to set foot in a garden inhabited by snakes. I shudder to remember that undulating creature taking up residence in my tomato bed. In our eight years in this house we have never seen a snake in our backyard. Never! Is there such thing as snake repellent?
10. Our kitchen. You're anxious for an update with pictures, right? Sorry to disappoint. In our busy-ness, we haven't worked on our house at all. We're still baseboard-less, the painting is not yet finished, the cabinets are still builder-grade brown, Clarke still has one itty bitty plank to complete the flooring and there are probably a million and one other tasks to complete before it's done. Sigh. Perhaps by summer?
So, that's about it for us.
1. Look Ma, no training wheels!
Perhaps it was a happy accident when Brock's training wheels, admittedly on the cheap side, bent into an awkward shape and made riding tricky for our first time biker boy. Instead of working his magic to bend them back into shape, Clarke just removed the training wheels and presented Brock with a big boy's bike. Like a new colt first learning to wobble, Brock is definitely not ready to spin around the neighborhood without daddy clutching firmly to his bike seat. But this is a start...
2. No more football! Yay! Oops, did I just say that out loud?
Ah, the luxury of not rushing off to football practice twice a week and planning our entire Saturday around the weekly game. A mom can get used to this. Brock's team, the Bears, won their very last game of the season last Saturday. Now we can kick back and wait for the madness of next football season...in four months. Gee 4 months, that's all?
3. Did you watch the royal wedding? Why yes, I did. Thank you for asking. Sometimes believing in the fairytale princess and the happy ending is good for the soul. And, yes, I know that she's not really a princess. Actually, what I found most entertaining was the hats. Why don't we Americans have corny traditions like outlandish head gear to one up each other at weddings and social events? Millinery is, sadly, a lost art here in the states.
4. Clarke and I went to see a movie...at the theater. I know, I know....cha-ching. We saw 'Water for Elephants' and it was surprisingly good and not exactly a chic flick. So man up guys. You CAN take your girl to see this movie and not walk out feeling like you "took one for the team."
5. We switched from Dish Network to Direct TV all in the name of college football, and one channel in particular: The Mountain. So far, so good.
6. Guess who is going to see 'Wicked' this week? Me! Yay!
7. Easter looked like this:
8. Mother's Day was great. Clarke made breakfast and he and Brock made me a card and gave me some hanging baskets for the front porch. We had no power at church and had to teach without lights or microphones. Fun times. Dinner was dutch oven at my parent's house, where we sat around and talked for hours while the kids wore themselves out, playing.
9. We planted our tomatoes last week. After months of FREEZING cold temperatures, we were finally able to put down our first plants. Of course, in the process, Clarke was met by a snake! A 20" garter snake. EW. Seriously gross and a guarantee that poor Clarke will have to do ALL the gardening by his lonesome this summer as I refuse to set foot in a garden inhabited by snakes. I shudder to remember that undulating creature taking up residence in my tomato bed. In our eight years in this house we have never seen a snake in our backyard. Never! Is there such thing as snake repellent?
10. Our kitchen. You're anxious for an update with pictures, right? Sorry to disappoint. In our busy-ness, we haven't worked on our house at all. We're still baseboard-less, the painting is not yet finished, the cabinets are still builder-grade brown, Clarke still has one itty bitty plank to complete the flooring and there are probably a million and one other tasks to complete before it's done. Sigh. Perhaps by summer?
So, that's about it for us.
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