by Jessica on January 27, 2012
Even though I don’t have much to do, blogging hasn’t been happening as often as you’d think it would be. Namely, because I have nothing to write about! When you do nothing all day, you generate not much in the way of exciting blog fodder. Oh well, I think I have enough random snip-its to compose a post today!
- I went to the doctor yesterday, and I’m still at 3cm and 80% effaced, but Brody’s head is now engaged and at -3 station. My doctor is not overly concerned with this, at this stage in the pregnancy, so we’re keeping with the same plan. Originally, she said we’d discuss release from bed rest at 35 weeks (which is what happened with Knox), but I guess she changed her mind because she wants me to stay on moderate rest until 36 weeks. I’ll go off the shots and the meds then, as well. So, just one more week and one day left! Thank goodness!
- We met Knox’s speech therapist last week, and we LOVED her! She will be coming over this Tuesday with the interventionist to set goals for Knox and what we want to accomplish in therapy. I’m looking so forward to getting started with it!
- Knox has been making some more progress with talking, which is very exciting. He’s started to say much more randomly and in passing without being prompted. His interventionist has been trying to get him to sign “more” and we’ve been doing the same. It’s hilarious because we’ll sign first, and ask him “can you say “more?” Instead of signing himself, he’ll grab our hands and make US do the sign! Can you say STUBBORN??! Of course, today, the interventionist wouldn’t give him the toy he wanted until he signed or said “more,” and she said “Say MMM, MMM, more” and he looked at her and yelled “Mmmoh!” He was so angry, but he got his toy!
- Brody’s room is so close to being finished! The big “B” for his wall came in yesterday, so as soon as that gets hung… pictures will be coming! Yay!
- I cannot wait to clean my house. How sad is it that I’m looking forward to cleaning? Seriously, though, the nesting urge is in full-swing and sitting here instead of scrubbing something is maddening!
- Tomorrow morning, the girls in my Sunday school class are throwing a “baby brunch” for me and another one of the ladies in class (we’re due two days apart with our second babies). I’m excited to get out of the house for a little while and socialize (even if I have to do it while sitting!). It’s a good way to celebrate hitting 35 weeks Saturday!
P.S. Don’t forget to enter the custom pet portrait giveaway through Sunday!
by Jessica on January 25, 2012
As many of you already know, my friend, Lindsey, is an amazing artist. Like, truly awesome. She made my day life and painted these fantastic pictures that are hanging in Brody’s nursery. Remember how I saw these in an expensive baby store but didn’t want to pay the $400 price tag? So, I hired sweet Lindsey to paint them for me, instead!
But that’s not all she can do. Oh no, not even close! Check out her custom pet portraits:
I KNOW! She blows me away!! Lindsey has done portraits of both of our dogs, and I have hired her to do several for family and friends, as well. In order to better share her immense creativity with the world, Lindsey has started her own Etsy shop, Linny Fish Creations, where she offers up:
Custom pet portraits:
Custom House paintings:
Even her own creations, custom window pane jewelry stations:
Here’s the good news: one of you is going to win a custom 5×5 pet portrait of your very own!! Yay! If you want one (and let’s be honest, of course you do!) skip on over to my giveaway blog HERE and enter! Lindsey is also offering a 20% off coupon code to all of you, good through the end February, and you can find that on the Giveaway Blog, as well. Good luck!
by Jessica on January 24, 2012
Sunday night I was laying on the couch (shocker, right?) eating a brownie, drinking some milk and reading “Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth.” I don’t know if it was all of that reading about labor or what, but I was getting a lot more contractions and cramps than I normally do. I just drank some extra water and hoped it would pass. I figured I would go ahead and go to bed since that generally calms things down. When I woke up in the morning, I found a little something extra during my bathroom trip. *TMI alert* There was what seemed to be a small, blood-tinged booger in my underwear. It was not much (we’re talking very small) and had obviously come out during the night. Hmm. I figured there would probably be more of whatever it was later in the day, so I just hoped it was a piece of mucus plug and not the beginnings of a bloody show.
When I was going into labor with Knox, I had the bloody show at about 5 p.m. and Knox was born by 7 a.m. the next morning, so I didn’t want a repeat of that situation!! A few hours later, another bathroom trip revealed a gelatinous whitish blob… mucus plug. I know the mucus plug doesn’t mean much, aside from the fact that you’re probably dilating and effacing, but in my case that’s not exactly news. It doesn’t mean that labor is imminent, and many women lose theirs weeks before they deliver. Still, my doctor told me to call for pretty much anything new, so I let them know, and they echoed my feelings that all was well and not to worry, just to call if contractions picked up or got more severe.
Anyway, in the interest of documenting all things pre-term labor, I’m sharing that gross tidbit with you all. 
Of course if you follow me on FB or twitter, you already know this and are probably bored reading this again!
Today has been pretty calm (hopefully that will continue!) though I have had a good many contractions this afternoon. I think it’s just due to a full bladder, though, because I have to pee every five seconds today!
I leave you with this picture, which is thankfully, totally unrelated to the topic at hand (I may show you pictures of my stretch marks, but I will not be posting pictures of my mucus plug!). Last night, Trevor was doing squats and let Knox (and his tiny giraffe toy) “help” him by sitting on his shoulders, which is possibly Knox’s favorite spot to be on the planet. He laughed and laughed, but of course has a more serious face when I take out the camera phone!
ETA: So, I went back and looked at my old blog entries when I was on bed rest with Knox, and apparently I did lose my mucus plug with him! How I forgot that, I have no idea, but I actually lost it with him around 33 weeks. Interesting.
by Jessica on January 23, 2012
Don’t ever say I didn’t show you anything. Or tell you anything. Because I’m probably about to scar you for life. I’ve whined and complained during this pregnancy about my stretch marks. How horrible they are, how much I hate them and how they kind of make me want to vomit. I always feel like I have to precede any complaint with an explanation of how thankful I am for my pregnancy, like being unhappy with a side effect of pregnancy somehow makes me seem less grateful for it, but you know what? That’s ridiculous. No matter how much you love your children, that doesn’t mean you have to love the ugly scars, hemorrhoids or saggy boobs that your pregnancies have left you with. Obviously any of us would take these unpleasant things a million times over to get our baby out of it, but if given the choice, we’d always opt out of the ugly stuff and just take the baby if we could!
I don’t think I fully realized how lucky I was in my pregnancy with Knox. My only stretch marks were a few on my boobs (which have largely faded away) and some nasty deep ones on my left side (which have actually gotten worse and darker). I had not a single mark on my stomach, although my belly button was left looking a little strange.
Case in point, my first belly pic with Brody- I seriously want to punch my past self right now for being all skinny and pretty-skinned.
Because, my stomach will never look like that again. Like, never. Okay. Take a deep breath because you’re about to see the full extent of the horror occurring on my belly right now. That’s right. I’m going to show you my stretch marks in all their “glory.”
I am crazy for showing you this.
And kind of horrified.
Um, okay. Rip off the Band-aid.
::Crickets:: Um, where are the stretch marks?? Oh, well, this is the freak of nature right side of my stomach that is apparently immune to them. But don’t worry. Because this is what the left looks like:
Obviously the ones over my belly button are the worst. The ones on my side are pretty bad, too. And I have to say, a picture doesn’t really show the full extent, especially pictures taken into the mirror with my phone. They’re darker in person, but they’re going to be a LOT worse when Brody comes out because they’re stretched out right now. I’m just going to avoid mirrors for, oh, ever after delivery. At least my boobs will be huge for a while afterwards thanks to breast feeding. Maybe that will distract me!
So, how do you deal with the battle scars of motherhood? Ignore them? Embrace them? Cover them? Surgically reduce/ enhance them? What’s worked for you?
by Jessica on January 21, 2012
I generally don’t post these surveys every week, but considering I really don’t know how much longer I have, I figured I might as well document these last few weeks!
How far along? 34 Weeks
Total weight gain/loss: Around 26 pounds. I have lost a pound a week for the past two weeks- I know this is from a decrease in appetite caused by all the water I’m drinking. I take in 12-14 glasses a day, so I am always full (literally) of water. I’ve been really trying to eat well this week, regardless of whether I’m in the mood or not.
Maternity clothes? Yes. My bed rest uniform consists of maternity yoga pants and a t-shirt… SO comfortable!
Sleep: I’ve had a hard time getting to sleep. I’m very restless from laying around so much- I’m just not tired at a normal hour. Generally, I’m falling asleep close to 1 a.m…. and getting up at 7:30 with Knox. At least bed rest won’t last much longer, but seriously, I’ll be getting way less sleep pretty soon, so I might as well get used to it!
Best moment this week: Hitting 34 weeks. Every single week is a big deal with all of this pre-term scariness going on.
Movement: Nearly constant. Brody is a wild child! Now that’s he’s bigger, too, I’ve started to get “lightening crotch” a lot more often. You know, that super fun pinching feeling in your cervix that makes you want to jump out of your skin.
Food cravings: Brownies and chocolate milk, still.
Gender: Boy
Labor Signs: Unfortunately, yes. At 3 cm dilated and 80% effaced. His head is not engaged, which is very good. Let’s hope that by next week things have not progressed any more. I’m still contracting, even on the meds and with the bed rest.
Stretch marks? It’s a disaster. Trevor caught a glimpse of them this week and said “Ugh! Those look painful!” Thanks, babe.
What I miss: No contractions and not worrying about pre-term labor!! Also being able to change sleeping positions- I only have one comfortable spot… laying on my left side in my snoogle.
What I am looking forward to: Reaching 36 weeks, finishing Brody’s nursery, getting the to-do list knocked out. Thankfully, I have help! My awesome and amazing friend, Lindsey, is coming over today to help me get his room finished up. I just have to hang a few things up and it will be pretty much complete.
Weekly Wisdom: Be still! Lay, drink, and lay some more. Also, I have found a lot of comfort in reading my daily devotional and Bible verses. It keeps me centered and somewhat calm.
Milestones: 34 Weeks! Each week (and day, really) is a milestone at this point!
