I think my children are trying to kill me. Now yes Quin is a much easier baby but he's a bit lazy in his latch especially on my right side. Anyway he has one middle of the night feed sometime between 3 and 4. Now during the day this would take 20-30 minutes but for the overnight one he fights me. Won't latch, pulls his head back, sticks his hands in his mouth, and cries at the top of his lungs that he's hungry. It takes an hour or more to get him finally fed and back to sleep. Alex is now back to getting up at 6am when he hears his dad leaving for work. So just as I'm getting back to sleep (I forgot to mention that starting at five Ken hits the snooze button 3-4 times before getting up.) I have a little voice by my ear going "Hi mommy, diaper change." Needless to say most days, lately I'm groggy and cranky until lunch time.
Quinton cracks me up sometimes. He screams bloody murder when I change his diaper most of the time. I mean it sounds like he's in pain at point but as soon as I button up his onesie it cuts off mid scream. Then he looks at me like " hi mom, how are you?" But poor little boy spits up through his nose. He doesn't spit up often maybe once or twice a day but when he does some portion comes out his nose. I think I'm going to act the doctor about that at his appointment Friday.
Ken now thinks Alex is Joey Ramone reincarnted. All because of the fact whenever a Ramones song comes on the radio Alex stops what he's doing. Starts bopping around and sings along. Granted he sings the verses as well as the chorus but the Ramones music is boppy and what toddler/preschooler isn't going to enjoy jumping around to it. That and the fact that most of their songs are less than three minutes long and pretty repetative, well it makes me think they're just fun for kids. Besides you can learn to count to four really easy because most of them start out with 1,2,3,4. It is kinda funny listening to your 2 and a half year old sing "20, 20, 24 hours to goooo oo o, I wanna be sedated" as he jumps up and down.
I think it's finally starting to sink in that the baby isn't going away. Alex is starting to awknowledge him instead of ignore him. I think the first coupld weeks he was in denial.
Saturday, October 21, 2006
Monday, October 09, 2006
This all started saturday morning around 7:15. I got up to use te bathroom and on the way back to bed I noticed a trickle. It's sad but I was hoping I actually wet myself but I knew it wasn't true. It wasn't constant, just when I was standing or walking around. If I sat down there was nothing. No contractions, so I took a shower by the time I got dressed Alex was up so I got him dressed and we went downstairs. I got him breakfast and started working on resizing a design to send in for printing. (I had my computer working, at least temporarily at that point). When Ken came down at 9:00 I gave him the bad news because at this point there was no denying it, my water broke.
We started getting the last of our stuff together for the hospital because I knew as soon as I called they'd tell me to come in. At this point I was hoping they'd just wait it out and let me go into labor naturally. That way Ken could shoot this wedding and hopefully still be there for the birth. Once I called the midwife on duty she told me to come in, I said we'd be there as son as we dropped Alex off at a friend's house. I knew not to call Jean since she said she'd be out of town for the weekend. So I called Jamie, she wasn't there I left a message and tried her cell. It also went straight to message. I happened to look out the window and noticed our neighbors were home, they have two little girls and Alex is right between them in age. They had also offered to watch him. I callled them, got the machine. Ken walked over thinking maybe they were working in the front yard. Luckily they were and Alex spent a fun day with the girls and toys not his.
By the time I got to the hospital around 10:30 and they checked me, still no contractions, I was ruptured, 2cm dilated and 50% effaced. I was told they'd have to induce me. I'm a GSB carrier, so they couldn't wait and risk the baby being infected. She did promise to take it slow once she found out why we wanted to wait. Ken left at 1:00 pm for the wedding, just as they started the pitocin. It was slowly upped every half hour. Around 2:30pm Stacy stopped in to visit (our neighbor). Jamie called a few minutes later and I told her to come by and keep me company too. She brought her youngest with her. Stacy left a little before four. Soon after Lynn, the midwife came by checked me again I was only 3-4 cm and 75% effaced. They had told Ken when he left they thought I'd deliver around 5-5:30. He was lucking out that wasn't likeyly at this point. He called soon after and I told him it would be a couple hours yet.
He was thinking about leaving after he shot the formals and letting his assistant cover the reception. Jamie stayed until about 6:00, then she had to get home and make dinner for her family. At seven Lani came in, she's another playgroup mom but she's also a L&D nurse. She was actually the supervisor for the night. Lynn checked me again and I was 5cm and completely effaced. Lani stopped in to visit every once in a while but at 8:30 my nurse had asked her to check the baby's monitor because the heartbeat was getting erratic.
Now I got my epidural around 5pm and it worked pretty well I was numb from mid back to mid thigh except for a spot on my right hip. I could feel the stronger contractions there. But after an hour or so even that went away for a bit. So like I said Lani came in to find the baby's heart rate again and asked to check me. She looks at me funny. "the baby's head is right there don't you feel any pressure?" Nope. Once she had me lay on my back they found his heart beat easily. Guess he was used to me sleeping on my back most of my pregnancy, that and they knew where he was.
Lynn came in and checked me as well. Then she asked if I wanted to wait a bit and see if Ken could get here soon. The baby was fine and I felt no need to push so if I wanted to wait that was fine. She had a couple more babies coming up to deliver pretty soon. (Did I say this was a record weekend for babies at the hospital? Quinton ended up being baby number 60 since Friday morning) I was fine with waiting and tried calling Ken a few times. The first time I left a message the next two I didn't finally at 9:15 I got him. He was leaving the reception right then.
I figured and hour for him to get back up here from Edgewater. The midwife came in and checked on me again about twenty of ten. I told her Ken should be here in a half hour or so. So she went to deliver another baby. He actually got there around 10:30. Seems there was an accident on the two lane highway leaving the reception, which closed it off. So he had to back track south before find a cross road before heading north again. He said he was breaking all sorts of speed limits. Lynn said later if he had gotten a ticket she was pretty sure they would have thrown it out in court.
Right after he got there everyone started scrambling to get things ready. Five pushes later Quinton was born. I didn't even tear that much probably because he sat there so long I stretched a bit.
It's funny the little things you notice with the second one, maybe because the first time it's all so new and overwhelming. Like how soft a baby's first hair is. So downy, I know in a month or so he'll start to loose it but I can't seem to stop stroking his head. That and a newborn's cry can drive your husband insane at 3am. Sorry but it was funny. I was trying to clean up the myconium in a diaper change, Quin absolutely hates any and all diaper changes and screams until he turns red, I forgot how nasty those first diapers can be, that tarry stuff sticks to everything.
I meant to get back here sooner but friday and saturday this week I was kinda laid up. When they said the cramps the second time around would hurt more they were right. Damn I thought I was going into labor again at times. Yesterday was the day to run errands that and my computer is still screwed up even after reformatting. Not sure what to do now.
We started getting the last of our stuff together for the hospital because I knew as soon as I called they'd tell me to come in. At this point I was hoping they'd just wait it out and let me go into labor naturally. That way Ken could shoot this wedding and hopefully still be there for the birth. Once I called the midwife on duty she told me to come in, I said we'd be there as son as we dropped Alex off at a friend's house. I knew not to call Jean since she said she'd be out of town for the weekend. So I called Jamie, she wasn't there I left a message and tried her cell. It also went straight to message. I happened to look out the window and noticed our neighbors were home, they have two little girls and Alex is right between them in age. They had also offered to watch him. I callled them, got the machine. Ken walked over thinking maybe they were working in the front yard. Luckily they were and Alex spent a fun day with the girls and toys not his.
By the time I got to the hospital around 10:30 and they checked me, still no contractions, I was ruptured, 2cm dilated and 50% effaced. I was told they'd have to induce me. I'm a GSB carrier, so they couldn't wait and risk the baby being infected. She did promise to take it slow once she found out why we wanted to wait. Ken left at 1:00 pm for the wedding, just as they started the pitocin. It was slowly upped every half hour. Around 2:30pm Stacy stopped in to visit (our neighbor). Jamie called a few minutes later and I told her to come by and keep me company too. She brought her youngest with her. Stacy left a little before four. Soon after Lynn, the midwife came by checked me again I was only 3-4 cm and 75% effaced. They had told Ken when he left they thought I'd deliver around 5-5:30. He was lucking out that wasn't likeyly at this point. He called soon after and I told him it would be a couple hours yet.
He was thinking about leaving after he shot the formals and letting his assistant cover the reception. Jamie stayed until about 6:00, then she had to get home and make dinner for her family. At seven Lani came in, she's another playgroup mom but she's also a L&D nurse. She was actually the supervisor for the night. Lynn checked me again and I was 5cm and completely effaced. Lani stopped in to visit every once in a while but at 8:30 my nurse had asked her to check the baby's monitor because the heartbeat was getting erratic.
Now I got my epidural around 5pm and it worked pretty well I was numb from mid back to mid thigh except for a spot on my right hip. I could feel the stronger contractions there. But after an hour or so even that went away for a bit. So like I said Lani came in to find the baby's heart rate again and asked to check me. She looks at me funny. "the baby's head is right there don't you feel any pressure?" Nope. Once she had me lay on my back they found his heart beat easily. Guess he was used to me sleeping on my back most of my pregnancy, that and they knew where he was.
Lynn came in and checked me as well. Then she asked if I wanted to wait a bit and see if Ken could get here soon. The baby was fine and I felt no need to push so if I wanted to wait that was fine. She had a couple more babies coming up to deliver pretty soon. (Did I say this was a record weekend for babies at the hospital? Quinton ended up being baby number 60 since Friday morning) I was fine with waiting and tried calling Ken a few times. The first time I left a message the next two I didn't finally at 9:15 I got him. He was leaving the reception right then.
I figured and hour for him to get back up here from Edgewater. The midwife came in and checked on me again about twenty of ten. I told her Ken should be here in a half hour or so. So she went to deliver another baby. He actually got there around 10:30. Seems there was an accident on the two lane highway leaving the reception, which closed it off. So he had to back track south before find a cross road before heading north again. He said he was breaking all sorts of speed limits. Lynn said later if he had gotten a ticket she was pretty sure they would have thrown it out in court.
Right after he got there everyone started scrambling to get things ready. Five pushes later Quinton was born. I didn't even tear that much probably because he sat there so long I stretched a bit.
It's funny the little things you notice with the second one, maybe because the first time it's all so new and overwhelming. Like how soft a baby's first hair is. So downy, I know in a month or so he'll start to loose it but I can't seem to stop stroking his head. That and a newborn's cry can drive your husband insane at 3am. Sorry but it was funny. I was trying to clean up the myconium in a diaper change, Quin absolutely hates any and all diaper changes and screams until he turns red, I forgot how nasty those first diapers can be, that tarry stuff sticks to everything.
I meant to get back here sooner but friday and saturday this week I was kinda laid up. When they said the cramps the second time around would hurt more they were right. Damn I thought I was going into labor again at times. Yesterday was the day to run errands that and my computer is still screwed up even after reformatting. Not sure what to do now.
Thursday, September 28, 2006
I am Quite ready to be done with this pregnancy. Actually I don't think it's going to be much longer. Just hope it isn't Saturday, since that is the last wedding Ken booked until November, when he booked it last winter it seemed like it was in the safe zone.
Anyway at my weekly appt. my BP was up. This is what happened at the end with Alex too. The week before it was borderline high, then they send me to L&D to get a series reading where it ends up being normal again. Same thing happened today. So I spent almost two hours over in L&D this morning so they can monitor us. The baby does not like being monitored. He either kicks at the band around my belly or turns away so it's hard to get his heart rate. He was giving the nurse a hell of a time. I am having contractions but nothing regular, I've been put on partial bedrest. Basically I was told to rest, relax and drink lots of fluids. Once I got home I had to call work and tell them I wouldn't be in for my Sunday and Monday shifts. They were to be my last ones anyway before starting mat leave.
I Got home made my calls took Alex to the grocery store since we missed playgroup this morning. I was actually pretty upset about that. I figured this was the last one we'd go to for a few weeks and I wanted him to have a chance to play with his friends. My appt was at 8:45 so I figured I'd be home by 9:30 latest, so we could go at 10:30 to playgroup. That obviously didn't happen.
We have cable internet once more. Now if only I could get my computer up and running. I almost did. It was funny right after I got off the phone talking to the tech to set up an appointment for them to come out windows booted up and I reloaded all my newer software. Unfortunately it didn't last the next morning it acted like it had for the previous 3 days. Ahh well.
So I'm hoping Ken's birthday present comes in today or tomorrow. Then I need to pick up an ice cream cake. I think we're going the traditional Carvel on this year instead of Cold stone. (I had an ice cream cake for my shower and he really enjoyed the piece I brought home for him.) Other than the wedding we'll spend the next few days putting the nursery back together now that the floor is finished.
Anyway at my weekly appt. my BP was up. This is what happened at the end with Alex too. The week before it was borderline high, then they send me to L&D to get a series reading where it ends up being normal again. Same thing happened today. So I spent almost two hours over in L&D this morning so they can monitor us. The baby does not like being monitored. He either kicks at the band around my belly or turns away so it's hard to get his heart rate. He was giving the nurse a hell of a time. I am having contractions but nothing regular, I've been put on partial bedrest. Basically I was told to rest, relax and drink lots of fluids. Once I got home I had to call work and tell them I wouldn't be in for my Sunday and Monday shifts. They were to be my last ones anyway before starting mat leave.
I Got home made my calls took Alex to the grocery store since we missed playgroup this morning. I was actually pretty upset about that. I figured this was the last one we'd go to for a few weeks and I wanted him to have a chance to play with his friends. My appt was at 8:45 so I figured I'd be home by 9:30 latest, so we could go at 10:30 to playgroup. That obviously didn't happen.
We have cable internet once more. Now if only I could get my computer up and running. I almost did. It was funny right after I got off the phone talking to the tech to set up an appointment for them to come out windows booted up and I reloaded all my newer software. Unfortunately it didn't last the next morning it acted like it had for the previous 3 days. Ahh well.
So I'm hoping Ken's birthday present comes in today or tomorrow. Then I need to pick up an ice cream cake. I think we're going the traditional Carvel on this year instead of Cold stone. (I had an ice cream cake for my shower and he really enjoyed the piece I brought home for him.) Other than the wedding we'll spend the next few days putting the nursery back together now that the floor is finished.
Monday, September 25, 2006
So I post last night about everything but about how yesterday went. Alex woke up in a much better mood. He came into my room at about twenty of seven with a cheery "Hi Mommy" Then began chattering away. I was actually feeling a bit better myself not as congested. I did notice through the course of the day that Alex's energy waned pretty quickly. He'd play for 15 minutes or so then go sit in his chair or lay on the floor for a half hour. He did actually start taking liquids again yesterday and ate a tiny bit.
I did well most of the morning then I started getting lower back aches every 45 minutes to an a hour. Which was joined by an almost but not quite queasy feeling. Drinking water and laying down helped a little but not much. This lasted until about 5pm.
Ken has the worst luck when he goes up to pick his parents in Brooklyn. This time he got a flat tire on the Jersey Turnpike. He's in a brand new car with brand new tires. After putting the donut on he got to a service station to see if they could repair the tire. It was a no go, too much damage. A large piece of metal was what caused the initial damage. They didn't have any Michelins so he waited until he got home to get a new tire. That didn't go so smoothly either because to match the other tires they had to send to another store to get what he needed. So by the time we got to VA for MIL's birthday dinner we were 40 minutes late.
Ale was surprisingly good at dinner. I think he was a bit delirious. He was definately entertaining. Everyone got a good chuckle out of watching him try and use chopsticks (4 of them at once) So we got home about 9:30 and even though Alex slept in the car the day was a bit much for him. That combined with a the gunk draining down his throat, he started to throw up as we got him ready for bed. Luckily we got him to the bathroom before anything actually came out. He got a quick bath then passed out in bed soon after.
Today the boys went up to PA to ride the rails with Thomas. Ken said that when Alex saw the trains he got this huge, shocked looking grin on his face. But all the boys enjoyed their day. He also said that when he went to get T-shirts for Alex, the boy almost stripped right there so he could wear it.:hehe:
Quiet day at work for me today but a lot of customers asking how soon. I must look ready or something. No contractions today but baby boy was kicking up a storm.
So this afternoon we all kinda crash in various stages on the couch and finish my vanilla bean frappichino. After dinner, which was left over dim sum that was supposed to be lunch yesterday, Alex went back to watch the end of Mulan (again) within ten minutes he was falling asleep. So I got Ken to carry him up to bed. He didn't even protest as I changed his diapers and got him into his PJ's. At the end I turned on the Oceans of Wonder thing said "Good night I love you sweet dreams." like I always do gave him a kiss then added, "dream about riding the rails with Thomas." He got this beautiful sleepy smile on his face as he closed his eyes. It was just so sweet. I kissed him one more time before leaving the room.
Now I just have to get my computer functioning again, it didn't like the network with DSL so we were trying to just start from scratch and reload drivers for the wireless router. For some reason my computer didn't like this. So I tried rebooting several times in both normal and safe mode and just got a black screen. Finally I gave up and tried system recovery, this didn't work either because it went through the whole recovery sequence, then you're supposed to shut down and reboot for everything to take effect. Still got the black screen.(this all started friday night) Ken took the whole thing apart last night after we got home and made sure there was no dust or anything.
I tried again tonight to get booted to this time it starts to load windows but freezes before it gets to the desktop. So some improvement. Guess I call a tech tomorrow. We're just doing really bad where technology is concerned this month.
I did well most of the morning then I started getting lower back aches every 45 minutes to an a hour. Which was joined by an almost but not quite queasy feeling. Drinking water and laying down helped a little but not much. This lasted until about 5pm.
Ken has the worst luck when he goes up to pick his parents in Brooklyn. This time he got a flat tire on the Jersey Turnpike. He's in a brand new car with brand new tires. After putting the donut on he got to a service station to see if they could repair the tire. It was a no go, too much damage. A large piece of metal was what caused the initial damage. They didn't have any Michelins so he waited until he got home to get a new tire. That didn't go so smoothly either because to match the other tires they had to send to another store to get what he needed. So by the time we got to VA for MIL's birthday dinner we were 40 minutes late.
Ale was surprisingly good at dinner. I think he was a bit delirious. He was definately entertaining. Everyone got a good chuckle out of watching him try and use chopsticks (4 of them at once) So we got home about 9:30 and even though Alex slept in the car the day was a bit much for him. That combined with a the gunk draining down his throat, he started to throw up as we got him ready for bed. Luckily we got him to the bathroom before anything actually came out. He got a quick bath then passed out in bed soon after.
Today the boys went up to PA to ride the rails with Thomas. Ken said that when Alex saw the trains he got this huge, shocked looking grin on his face. But all the boys enjoyed their day. He also said that when he went to get T-shirts for Alex, the boy almost stripped right there so he could wear it.:hehe:
Quiet day at work for me today but a lot of customers asking how soon. I must look ready or something. No contractions today but baby boy was kicking up a storm.
So this afternoon we all kinda crash in various stages on the couch and finish my vanilla bean frappichino. After dinner, which was left over dim sum that was supposed to be lunch yesterday, Alex went back to watch the end of Mulan (again) within ten minutes he was falling asleep. So I got Ken to carry him up to bed. He didn't even protest as I changed his diapers and got him into his PJ's. At the end I turned on the Oceans of Wonder thing said "Good night I love you sweet dreams." like I always do gave him a kiss then added, "dream about riding the rails with Thomas." He got this beautiful sleepy smile on his face as he closed his eyes. It was just so sweet. I kissed him one more time before leaving the room.
Now I just have to get my computer functioning again, it didn't like the network with DSL so we were trying to just start from scratch and reload drivers for the wireless router. For some reason my computer didn't like this. So I tried rebooting several times in both normal and safe mode and just got a black screen. Finally I gave up and tried system recovery, this didn't work either because it went through the whole recovery sequence, then you're supposed to shut down and reboot for everything to take effect. Still got the black screen.(this all started friday night) Ken took the whole thing apart last night after we got home and made sure there was no dust or anything.
I tried again tonight to get booted to this time it starts to load windows but freezes before it gets to the desktop. So some improvement. Guess I call a tech tomorrow. We're just doing really bad where technology is concerned this month.
Saturday, September 23, 2006
We got DSL working but it's not working with out network so only Ken's computer has the high speed. Which is what needed to really be on the highspeed since we have a bunch of album and print orders come in, in the last two weeks. That combined with some other hassles means if cable is up and working Monday, the 30 day trial of DSL will be it.
Let's see Sunday both Alex and I came down with what ever this crap is that's going around. And almost immediately the "helpless when sick" gene on the Y chromosome kicked in. So not only am I stuffy, hacking and had no sleep (both pregnancy and cold related) I have to deal with mister whiney,cranky, refusing to take even tylenol or eat. Ken stayed home today when I lost it this morning at 6am and Alex was whining and I was frustrated because I couldn't understand a word he was saying.
I think he saw it coming when he got home Wednesday and I even though I looked like shit (going on maybe three hour sleep that day) I told him I was going to the grocery store and he could deal with the boy.
So even though I seem to be measureing ahead. And every one who looks at me says I won't make it until the 17th. The U/S today showed the baby measuring right on schedule maybe a couple days ahead which is nothing. They are estimating that he's about 6lbs 10oz at this point, so he's already bigger than Alex was when he was born. Alex came on his due date. He's still only 50 percentile in tems of size. The tech said it could be a pound either way but she expects this baby to be mid 7's when born.
Thursday was probably the one really good day all week. Alex enjoyed getting to play with all this friends and I got ice cream cake at my baby shower. They got us one of these
Alex wants to play with it already. He wanted us to put it together as soon as we got home.a bumbo, a bunch of long sleeve onsies, a sleep sack, little bath items like baby wash, lotions and wipes and the baby einstein fabric color blocks.
Ken finally almost has the floor in the nursery done. He'll finish it Tuesday since this weekend will be a wash for him. He has to go up to Brooklyn to pick up his parents, then we have the birthday dinner for his mom and Sunday he's taking Alex to ride on Thomas the Tank Engine up in Stausburg PA.
From Last Friday::
Today was an interesting day. Mostly good. I started the day with my spa appointment. A much needed facial and manicure. Came home in time for lunch and Ken went out to run errands and meet with the guy he's been picking up extra weddings from.
Looks like next year Ken has to put his photography business on a back burner. He has a lot of travel for his job at APG. At least one trip a month possibly starting as soon as January. So for the next year he's not going advertise like he usually does but will book referrals. Mostly because with travel he won't have time to do post process stuff on a regular basis. In order to make up the income he'll pick up a couple weddings a month from this guy. Looks like I may also be able to pick up some design work from him as well, which would be cool.
The only bad thing is we still have no highspeed. The tech came out, by the time he left after testing all the phone lines in the house, he said he was going to test the signal at the main junction. If he gets a signal it means there is a problem with the phone lines themselves, so Verizon will have to fix that. If the signal was still very weak, it means the provider needs to boost the signal. So either way we're still stuck.
In the mean time my new scanner showed up. So now I can start scanning my negatives. Ken got the hotsling I wanted off ebay so that should be arriving soon. The only other annoying thing I had several strong contractions luckily they went away after a glass of water and lying down for a half hour. You know I said I wanted the kid to show up early but not this early. Ken was thinking the other day it's not out of the realm of possibilities that the baby would arrive on the 27th. Which would be kind of funny our anniversary is April 27, Alex's birthday is January 27th, guess that number keeps popping up.
Today was an interesting day. Mostly good. I started the day with my spa appointment. A much needed facial and manicure. Came home in time for lunch and Ken went out to run errands and meet with the guy he's been picking up extra weddings from.
Looks like next year Ken has to put his photography business on a back burner. He has a lot of travel for his job at APG. At least one trip a month possibly starting as soon as January. So for the next year he's not going advertise like he usually does but will book referrals. Mostly because with travel he won't have time to do post process stuff on a regular basis. In order to make up the income he'll pick up a couple weddings a month from this guy. Looks like I may also be able to pick up some design work from him as well, which would be cool.
The only bad thing is we still have no highspeed. The tech came out, by the time he left after testing all the phone lines in the house, he said he was going to test the signal at the main junction. If he gets a signal it means there is a problem with the phone lines themselves, so Verizon will have to fix that. If the signal was still very weak, it means the provider needs to boost the signal. So either way we're still stuck.
In the mean time my new scanner showed up. So now I can start scanning my negatives. Ken got the hotsling I wanted off ebay so that should be arriving soon. The only other annoying thing I had several strong contractions luckily they went away after a glass of water and lying down for a half hour. You know I said I wanted the kid to show up early but not this early. Ken was thinking the other day it's not out of the realm of possibilities that the baby would arrive on the 27th. Which would be kind of funny our anniversary is April 27, Alex's birthday is January 27th, guess that number keeps popping up.
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
So I've started on the weekly plan of drs visits as of next week. And even though I'm holding pretty steady on weight gain, fluctuating between 21-23 lbs gained, I'm measuring 38 weeks at this point. So I get to go in for another u/s to check the baby's size end of next week. The midwife said that at this point if my contractions become regular they won't stop them. The ones I described to her sounded like real contractions not BH. But since I haven't had more than 2-3 a day I don't think Buddah boy is quiet ready to come out. This is fine by me, like I said he needs to wait two more weeks. Though Ken is now convinced the baby is gonna show up on his birthday, Oct 4th. Of course now that we're getting ready for him to show up early he'll be late.
Not much going on here this week. I do get my spa day Friday and next week the playgroup ladies are having a baby shower for me. That'll be nice, the food is always good and there are no games because we have too many kids running around. Next weekend is my MIL's birthday dinner and Ken will take Alex to Ride the rails with Thomas up in Stausburg PA. Of course since I work that day I won't get to enjoy my child free day.
Still on dial up at this point. A tech is suppose to come by Friday to figure out why DSL isn't working. And Comcast has started digging to lay the new lines in our court. So week three of internet hell for me ah well hopefully by the weekend we'll be back to where we need to be.
Not much going on here this week. I do get my spa day Friday and next week the playgroup ladies are having a baby shower for me. That'll be nice, the food is always good and there are no games because we have too many kids running around. Next weekend is my MIL's birthday dinner and Ken will take Alex to Ride the rails with Thomas up in Stausburg PA. Of course since I work that day I won't get to enjoy my child free day.
Still on dial up at this point. A tech is suppose to come by Friday to figure out why DSL isn't working. And Comcast has started digging to lay the new lines in our court. So week three of internet hell for me ah well hopefully by the weekend we'll be back to where we need to be.
Saturday, September 09, 2006
OKay so I'm really posting again in my journal. Still on dial up, looks like comcast probably isn't going to do anything until the new lines are laid. Though we did call them again since we were told this would be fixed with in 10 days, yesterday was 10 days from when the tech came out. They're sending someone else out again Tuesday (so two weeks from the last time we had a tech out.) This whole thing is really a pain because it interferes with us placing any print orders for customer albums, or just orders. We don't have the band width to upload large files in a reasonable amount of time. Hell it's taken me a week to get a quarter of all the pictures Ken took at my maternity shoot into my smugmug gallery.
We contacted our other account about getting DSL. The modem arrived yesterday. So we get it hooked up and realize we need to get it reprogramed in order to get it to serve as a bridge to our wireless network instead of a router for a single computer. In order to do that we had to hook it up to my computer alone with out the network because the closest phone to Ken's computer has a double line with both his business line as well as the home line running on it. Come to find out the modem isn't detecting DSL on our phoneline at all. We've obviously pissed off the broadband Gods somewhere along the line.
Anyway It dawned on me today that I have just over a month before this baby arrives. Some days it scares the hell out of me. We have nothing ready. I actually finally washed both possible coming home outfits this afternoon. But the nursery still has no floor. I worry about how Alex will be with the baby. I think he senses it's soon. One minute he's super clingy, the next he's moody and whiney. I also worry about how much time I'll have for him once the baby is here. I know in the end I'll do what I always do, just go with the flow and some days will be horrible and others very smooth. And in between will be days of mind numbing boring routine, with small magic moments.I'm hoping this kid will stay put at least another couple weeks but anytime after the 26th, well except the 4th he's allowed to arrive.
Yesterday was a rather uncomfortable morning. My BH contrax up until this point have just felt like my entire belly tightening up. Not painful but uncomfortable a couple times a day. Every hour or so in the morning I was getting a crampy feeling that wrapped around to my back didn't seem to matter what I was doing. Then at lunch time they stopped. Today nothing, I'll mention it at my appointment Monday. They baby has dropped as well. Until today when ever he started rolling I felt it near my belly button. Today I could feel his shoulders right above my pelvic bone, talk about uncomfortable.
Ken took Alex down to the city today to visit a train store. The boys were in electric train heaven. As soon as they got home Ken had to set up a small version of his track that's been in storage downstairs since we moved. We learned that Alex is not ready for electric trains, he doesn't understand the 'no touch' part of it yet.
My mom, sister and Niece are at my cousin's wedding today. I really wish I could be there. When I talked to my mom Thursday she said both Bonnie (my aunt) and Jason (my cousin) understood, the baby is more important though they will miss me. Mom said she'd make sure Jessica took lots of pictures for me to play with.
We contacted our other account about getting DSL. The modem arrived yesterday. So we get it hooked up and realize we need to get it reprogramed in order to get it to serve as a bridge to our wireless network instead of a router for a single computer. In order to do that we had to hook it up to my computer alone with out the network because the closest phone to Ken's computer has a double line with both his business line as well as the home line running on it. Come to find out the modem isn't detecting DSL on our phoneline at all. We've obviously pissed off the broadband Gods somewhere along the line.
Anyway It dawned on me today that I have just over a month before this baby arrives. Some days it scares the hell out of me. We have nothing ready. I actually finally washed both possible coming home outfits this afternoon. But the nursery still has no floor. I worry about how Alex will be with the baby. I think he senses it's soon. One minute he's super clingy, the next he's moody and whiney. I also worry about how much time I'll have for him once the baby is here. I know in the end I'll do what I always do, just go with the flow and some days will be horrible and others very smooth. And in between will be days of mind numbing boring routine, with small magic moments.I'm hoping this kid will stay put at least another couple weeks but anytime after the 26th, well except the 4th he's allowed to arrive.
Yesterday was a rather uncomfortable morning. My BH contrax up until this point have just felt like my entire belly tightening up. Not painful but uncomfortable a couple times a day. Every hour or so in the morning I was getting a crampy feeling that wrapped around to my back didn't seem to matter what I was doing. Then at lunch time they stopped. Today nothing, I'll mention it at my appointment Monday. They baby has dropped as well. Until today when ever he started rolling I felt it near my belly button. Today I could feel his shoulders right above my pelvic bone, talk about uncomfortable.
Ken took Alex down to the city today to visit a train store. The boys were in electric train heaven. As soon as they got home Ken had to set up a small version of his track that's been in storage downstairs since we moved. We learned that Alex is not ready for electric trains, he doesn't understand the 'no touch' part of it yet.
My mom, sister and Niece are at my cousin's wedding today. I really wish I could be there. When I talked to my mom Thursday she said both Bonnie (my aunt) and Jason (my cousin) understood, the baby is more important though they will miss me. Mom said she'd make sure Jessica took lots of pictures for me to play with.
Saturday, September 02, 2006
What do you do with a 2 1/2 year old with a flare for the over dramatic? The boy will never win an oscar if he keeps this up. Yesterday morning was particularly bad. Ken had gone upstairs to finish the painting and even out the floor so he could lay the laminate. I needed a shower so I asked Alex what he wanted to watch he said Blue so I put the DVD in that usually gives me at least a half hour to wash my face, brush my teeth and shower. I told him where I would be and started to head up. He decided he wanted his backpack, so I got it and helped him put it on, and continued on my way. Well he decided to follow me. I stopped to talk to Ken and let him know too. I heard Alex start sobbing, he was three steps from the bottom, his backpack on the floor. "Backpack fell, can't reach it, can't reach it, Backpack!!!" I'm asking him to calm down, and tell him to go down the three steps and get the backpack so I can help him put it on. After saying the exact same thing several times it seems to sink in and he does what I ask. I help him put it on and head to the masterbath. He follows me and it slides of once more, whining and tears commence. I help him a second time but this time I tighten the straps so it won't fall off so easy. He runs off and I get in the shower. Ten minues later,he's in in the bathroom again crying like a limb has been torn off. I pull back the curtain, head full of shampoo, expecting to see I don't know what because he really sounds like he's in pain. He's just standing there tears streaming down his face, nothing apparently wrong. I try talking him back to calm, at least enough so I can figure out what he's crying about. I get little bits and peices and and assume it's about his backpack because he no longer has it on. I ask him if he can reach it where he dropped it. That seems to take him down to sniffles and he runs off. A minute later he's back with his backpack and I've rinsed the shampoo from my hair. I help him again and he runs off. I take the rest of my shower in peace.
I find out later that he'd been in the nursery with Ken and had decided to tap on the window with a pair of pliers. Ken asked him to stop, he did the dear in headlights freeze. And dropped the pliers almost down the open heating vent. So Ken yells trying to catch it before it falls down, luckily it falls cock-eyed. This is what sent Alex off in crying to me. But there have been a lot of incidents similar to this. Whenever he drops somthing or can't find something right away he starts panicky crying. Even earlier that morning he couldn't find his juice cup and started to panic. I asked him where he usually puts it, then I say "Is it in your thinking chair?" He jumps off the couch and runs over to his chair low and behold, there's his juice cup, he's all smiles. How do I get him to slow down and think about where things might be, before an automatic burst into tears? This is driving me nuts. I keep having to talk him down before I can even ask questions or give leads on where to look. Because I'm not going to keep track of his stuff his entire life, I can barely keep track of mine.
Other than that this has been the week from hell. The first four days no internet, still no high speed. I have a feeling even though Comcast told us 7-10 days (I'm assuming from Tuesday when the tech was here) before maintenence comes to tweek the node. That that's not going to happen because they're replacing cable in our development, my guess is they think about it once they're done with that, which could be who knows when. Anyway we've contacted earthlink, which we still have an account with because that's where Ken has part of his website hosted. We upgraded to DSL with them so as soon as the modem gets here we should be back up to speed, for a thirty day trial. If Comcast doesn't fix this by next Friday we're canceling.
Of course last night we lost power for a good hour then off and on the rest of the night. It went out while Alex was watching Monsters Inc. DO you know how hard it is to explain to a two year old that I can't fix the TV because there is no power. Luckily it was close to his bed time and after 10 minutes he gave up and decided he wanted to go to bed. I read a couple stories by flashlight. The power had gone out while Ken had made a run to Lowe's so when he got back he found a light stick for us to leave with Alex, lit candles downstairs so we could save battery power in the flashlights. We lost power for about a half hour this morning as well. Luckily it was easier to distract Alex during daylight.
Last weekend was a festival for italian foods in Baltimore. I didn't go but, lots of stuff was in the Sun this week about it. This of course got me thinking about things my grandmother used to make namely pizzelles and fried dough. The pizzelle we got at BJs Thursday night. I called my dad to find out how my grandmother made the fried dough. He got back to me yesterday so I made it this morning. Big mistake. I spent most of the day in pain from the huge gas bubble under my ribs, I think maybe it was the yeast in the bread dough, who knows. About quarter of 4:00 the mylanta I took finally worked. Good thing Ken's wedding was a late one so he was around to help with Alex and by the time he left Alex was napping. I was almost back to normal by the time he woke at quarter of 5:00. I hope next week goes better.
I find out later that he'd been in the nursery with Ken and had decided to tap on the window with a pair of pliers. Ken asked him to stop, he did the dear in headlights freeze. And dropped the pliers almost down the open heating vent. So Ken yells trying to catch it before it falls down, luckily it falls cock-eyed. This is what sent Alex off in crying to me. But there have been a lot of incidents similar to this. Whenever he drops somthing or can't find something right away he starts panicky crying. Even earlier that morning he couldn't find his juice cup and started to panic. I asked him where he usually puts it, then I say "Is it in your thinking chair?" He jumps off the couch and runs over to his chair low and behold, there's his juice cup, he's all smiles. How do I get him to slow down and think about where things might be, before an automatic burst into tears? This is driving me nuts. I keep having to talk him down before I can even ask questions or give leads on where to look. Because I'm not going to keep track of his stuff his entire life, I can barely keep track of mine.
Other than that this has been the week from hell. The first four days no internet, still no high speed. I have a feeling even though Comcast told us 7-10 days (I'm assuming from Tuesday when the tech was here) before maintenence comes to tweek the node. That that's not going to happen because they're replacing cable in our development, my guess is they think about it once they're done with that, which could be who knows when. Anyway we've contacted earthlink, which we still have an account with because that's where Ken has part of his website hosted. We upgraded to DSL with them so as soon as the modem gets here we should be back up to speed, for a thirty day trial. If Comcast doesn't fix this by next Friday we're canceling.
Of course last night we lost power for a good hour then off and on the rest of the night. It went out while Alex was watching Monsters Inc. DO you know how hard it is to explain to a two year old that I can't fix the TV because there is no power. Luckily it was close to his bed time and after 10 minutes he gave up and decided he wanted to go to bed. I read a couple stories by flashlight. The power had gone out while Ken had made a run to Lowe's so when he got back he found a light stick for us to leave with Alex, lit candles downstairs so we could save battery power in the flashlights. We lost power for about a half hour this morning as well. Luckily it was easier to distract Alex during daylight.
Last weekend was a festival for italian foods in Baltimore. I didn't go but, lots of stuff was in the Sun this week about it. This of course got me thinking about things my grandmother used to make namely pizzelles and fried dough. The pizzelle we got at BJs Thursday night. I called my dad to find out how my grandmother made the fried dough. He got back to me yesterday so I made it this morning. Big mistake. I spent most of the day in pain from the huge gas bubble under my ribs, I think maybe it was the yeast in the bread dough, who knows. About quarter of 4:00 the mylanta I took finally worked. Good thing Ken's wedding was a late one so he was around to help with Alex and by the time he left Alex was napping. I was almost back to normal by the time he woke at quarter of 5:00. I hope next week goes better.
Friday, August 25, 2006
Tired
Okay so I did actually say something to Ken about letting people by pass him. He was saying there was no way he could prove he'd been there first and he felt like if he said something he'd be using Alex as an excuse. I said it's not an excuse if it's true. I wouldn't have done anything during the negotiation but right after I would have asked how long everything else would take because my two year old son hadn't had dinner yet. I think they would have gotten the message and accomidated him if he had. He was like, "I'll remember that next time"
The other thing we learned this week, during off season don't cut deals for clients, it always comes back to bite you in the ass. Ken got a last minute wedding in February. They only needed him like three hours (second wedding for both). They saw the coffee table style albums and instead of a full price 30 page album made from the art board and leather he said we'd do a 20 page shared ink album, so the pages are regular paper costs us about a third of the price of the other. I've done three updates on thsi album after the first mock up. First one back they wanted image changes so I had no trouble with that. Second time No black backgrounds. Now pages that had them looked good because it popped the images. Fine I did a few screened backrounds with other photos but page with the formal group shots I left with a white background. It just distracted too much from the images to have a background on it. The day he got the mocks he called Ken and said he didn't want any plain backrounds at all. I did the changes but it's really offending my design sensibilities. I never have this much trouble with the people who are getting the full price coffee table albums.
That was my little vent. I don't mind using backgrounds obviously if you look at my scrap pages but usually if I have a lot of images on a page I limit the background to a solid color or a single pattern and by a lot of images I guess I mean more than 4. You need to leave space so the images can breath, so in wedding albums I'll use either a white or black background to do this. Okay I guess this is still burning me, or the hormones aren't helping. I don't know what.
Speakign of hormones, I'm actually feeling much better since yesterday's playgroup. I think I must have really popped in the last week. Because a couple of the mom's commented I look pregnant and they'd seen me last week. The big questing of the day was of course "so how are you feeling?"
"Tired" "oh chasing after your high energy toddler is finally getting to you" yeah that and I'm not sleeping well, though the last three nights have been better only up once a night to use the bathroom instead of 3-4 times. Finding a comfy position is the killer. So my good sleep usually starts around 3am but monkey boy is up at 6:30, three and a half hours of sleep is not cutting it. This combined with the fact that the last two weeks I don't know if he's going to take a 1 hour nap or his (previously) usual 3 hour nap. I'm not getting my nap in. Needless to say my patience is wearing really thin. I found out yesterday this is actually normal for every second time mom. By the 8th month almost every single mom in our group, who's had their second said they had no patience for their toddler at this point in the pregnancy. It makes me feel better about the break down the other day when I started bawling as soon as Ken walked in the door, because Alex wouldn't stop whining and wouldn't give me just ten minutes of peace.
My appointment today was short and sweet. Though I am supposed to start the kick counts (I of course left the chart on the desk at the dr's office). Not that it matters buddah baby seems to roll and punch and kick on a regular basis. Usually right after I have a BH contrax.
That's all I can think of for the moment, I'll try and post pictures tonight.
The other thing we learned this week, during off season don't cut deals for clients, it always comes back to bite you in the ass. Ken got a last minute wedding in February. They only needed him like three hours (second wedding for both). They saw the coffee table style albums and instead of a full price 30 page album made from the art board and leather he said we'd do a 20 page shared ink album, so the pages are regular paper costs us about a third of the price of the other. I've done three updates on thsi album after the first mock up. First one back they wanted image changes so I had no trouble with that. Second time No black backgrounds. Now pages that had them looked good because it popped the images. Fine I did a few screened backrounds with other photos but page with the formal group shots I left with a white background. It just distracted too much from the images to have a background on it. The day he got the mocks he called Ken and said he didn't want any plain backrounds at all. I did the changes but it's really offending my design sensibilities. I never have this much trouble with the people who are getting the full price coffee table albums.
That was my little vent. I don't mind using backgrounds obviously if you look at my scrap pages but usually if I have a lot of images on a page I limit the background to a solid color or a single pattern and by a lot of images I guess I mean more than 4. You need to leave space so the images can breath, so in wedding albums I'll use either a white or black background to do this. Okay I guess this is still burning me, or the hormones aren't helping. I don't know what.
Speakign of hormones, I'm actually feeling much better since yesterday's playgroup. I think I must have really popped in the last week. Because a couple of the mom's commented I look pregnant and they'd seen me last week. The big questing of the day was of course "so how are you feeling?"
"Tired" "oh chasing after your high energy toddler is finally getting to you" yeah that and I'm not sleeping well, though the last three nights have been better only up once a night to use the bathroom instead of 3-4 times. Finding a comfy position is the killer. So my good sleep usually starts around 3am but monkey boy is up at 6:30, three and a half hours of sleep is not cutting it. This combined with the fact that the last two weeks I don't know if he's going to take a 1 hour nap or his (previously) usual 3 hour nap. I'm not getting my nap in. Needless to say my patience is wearing really thin. I found out yesterday this is actually normal for every second time mom. By the 8th month almost every single mom in our group, who's had their second said they had no patience for their toddler at this point in the pregnancy. It makes me feel better about the break down the other day when I started bawling as soon as Ken walked in the door, because Alex wouldn't stop whining and wouldn't give me just ten minutes of peace.
My appointment today was short and sweet. Though I am supposed to start the kick counts (I of course left the chart on the desk at the dr's office). Not that it matters buddah baby seems to roll and punch and kick on a regular basis. Usually right after I have a BH contrax.
That's all I can think of for the moment, I'll try and post pictures tonight.
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Yep we're now owners of a Honda Odessy Ex, in Desert Rock Metallic. Ken did check out the Toyota a couple weeks ago. He liked the way the Honda handled better, and since he'll be driving it most of the time, now that we traded in his XTerra, I figure we'll go with what he wants, doesn't make a whole lot of difference to me. Besides with the trade in we got payments under $300 a month, so we didn't work too bad a deal.
Since I have to do my photo of the day for DSP still, I'll get pictures of it tonight when Ken gets home. Poor Alex last night after the story Ken told me I'm surprised he did so well. Ken got there around 5:30 finished negotiations by 6:30, but he did leave until after 9pm. It was slow until Ken showed up then everyone and their brother wanted to buy a car so that they dealership was actually short people to handle it all. I think Ken needs to be more aggressive sometimes, he's so easy going that people figure he won't mind if he's pushed to the end of the line. Shit if I was there I would have been getting on someone's ass especially if I had Alex with me. I'd have been "Excuse me, I haven't had dinner yet, my two year old needs to eat and be in bed by 8:30 latest, start helping me now." More politely but that would have been my basic gist right before the hormones kicked in with the tears, if they didn't get on it.
Anyway Ken said Alex was really good. He was cracking everyone up by repeating what they said, almost word for word. By the time they got to the finance guy he was singing at the top of his lungs, followed soon after by a round of motorboat noises. Ken said the finance guys had to try real hard not to laugh though he did crack a few smiles. So by the time the car was cleaned and the papers were signed it was a little after nine. By the time they had dinner Alex didn't get to bed until just before I got home from work.
He was up at his normal 6:30 today but after seeing the chripractor this morning we came home had lunch and he went down for a nap. I think it was 15 minutes tops before there was silence up stairs. Poor boy was exhausted. I had hoped he'd sleep at least three hours or more but no such luck. Mr whineypants was up after two and half hours and getting on my last nerve. I ended up bursting into tears when Ken got home.
Well baby boy is measuring a week ahead. The tech said that doesn't mean a whole lot right now in terms of how big he'll be at birth. I figured this one would be bigger than Alex was, but then I think most babies are bigger than Alex was when he was born. Good thing he gained weight really quickly. Good news is he his head down at this point. I was getting worried because up until right before our trip he liked lying transverse.
Since I have to do my photo of the day for DSP still, I'll get pictures of it tonight when Ken gets home. Poor Alex last night after the story Ken told me I'm surprised he did so well. Ken got there around 5:30 finished negotiations by 6:30, but he did leave until after 9pm. It was slow until Ken showed up then everyone and their brother wanted to buy a car so that they dealership was actually short people to handle it all. I think Ken needs to be more aggressive sometimes, he's so easy going that people figure he won't mind if he's pushed to the end of the line. Shit if I was there I would have been getting on someone's ass especially if I had Alex with me. I'd have been "Excuse me, I haven't had dinner yet, my two year old needs to eat and be in bed by 8:30 latest, start helping me now." More politely but that would have been my basic gist right before the hormones kicked in with the tears, if they didn't get on it.
Anyway Ken said Alex was really good. He was cracking everyone up by repeating what they said, almost word for word. By the time they got to the finance guy he was singing at the top of his lungs, followed soon after by a round of motorboat noises. Ken said the finance guys had to try real hard not to laugh though he did crack a few smiles. So by the time the car was cleaned and the papers were signed it was a little after nine. By the time they had dinner Alex didn't get to bed until just before I got home from work.
He was up at his normal 6:30 today but after seeing the chripractor this morning we came home had lunch and he went down for a nap. I think it was 15 minutes tops before there was silence up stairs. Poor boy was exhausted. I had hoped he'd sleep at least three hours or more but no such luck. Mr whineypants was up after two and half hours and getting on my last nerve. I ended up bursting into tears when Ken got home.
Well baby boy is measuring a week ahead. The tech said that doesn't mean a whole lot right now in terms of how big he'll be at birth. I figured this one would be bigger than Alex was, but then I think most babies are bigger than Alex was when he was born. Good thing he gained weight really quickly. Good news is he his head down at this point. I was getting worried because up until right before our trip he liked lying transverse.
Monday, August 21, 2006
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