Tickled PINK!

Today was the anatomy scan to get all the measurements and status of the baby growing inside me. Since there were "no boy parts obvious" as put by the ultrasound tech, she said she was 98% sure it's a girl. Since I'm so far along, 25 weeks 3 days, she said the boy parts would be pretty obvious by now. She measured a day ahead of my gestational age, weighed 1 pound 13 ounces and has lips and nose just like her daddy. It was amazing seeing her finally on the screen. Just when I let one worry out, I'm sure another will creep into my worried mind. She's growing beautifully and looked healthy, but won't find out for a few days. Just hoping I don't receive a phone call from my doctor, then all is healthy and good with the baby. I also learned today that the reason I haven't felt much of her movement is because I have an anterior placenta...which is cushioning the movements for now.
Since the middle of October I had a feeling it was a girl, but still thought it was a boy. So I almost cried that it's a girl because I prepared myself for a boy. I'm thrilled and excited Xander is going to be a big brother and protector to his little sister. I'm going to have a hard time resisting the urge to buy all the cute bows, hats and headbands. I'm undecided if I want to do anything special to her nursery, not even sure I will purchase a bedding set since we don't even use Xander's for him. If I do, I have learned that most of it won't be used so don't spend a lot. I thought about just buying girly sheets and blankets and calling it good. We'll see if I can find a good deal on anything.
Now we just have to come up with a name.

Have a great day!

Happy Thanksgiving

Xander's 1st Thanksgiving.  He enjoyed himself some mashed potatoes, carrots, pineapple and a slice of pumpkin pie with cool whip on top.

That kind of day

Today was...that kind of day.
Baby was clingy all day. Wanted to be held all day. Didn't want to sit to be held, had to be standing up. My head is killing me and my back is miserable. The only way to keep him calm was by holding him walking around, or else it was a scream fest. I doubt he will sleep well tonight, nothing else went right today, so why sleep? This new tooth coming in is putting him in so much pain. Oral jel is not working, teething tablets didn't work, and Tylenol is doing nada also. Poor baby! I wish he would let me comfort him sitting down. Oh, I did get two smiles out of him tonight. One was when I was reading him his book he likes to eat, yuccy yuccy. The other was when I put peek-a-boo barn on the iPad. He loves watching the animals and their noises, but it only lasted for about 20 minutes and 3 times through.
My emotions got the best of me again today. Probably from being worn out with a fussy clingy baby and not being able to get anything done around the house. Didn't get dinner made, that was an impossible task. I had plans to make shrimp scampi with linguini. A meal that don't take long, but I don't dare cook over a hot stove with a baby in my arms. I wanted to start clearing out our computer room to make it into the new baby's room. That was impossible. I couldnt set him down and walk away without a fuss. I have to get a side cleared out as the crib and mattress are getting delivered Tuesday. Maybe this weekend Xander will be playful and not mind playing by himself for 20 minutes? We shall see. This too will pass with time.
Hubby is gone for another 3 weeks, I wish he was here right now so he could lug around our 20 pounder. I especially miss him for moments like today where I could use a second set of hands. He returns the day before his 31st birthday. Nothing special planned this year.
Tomorrow we aren't doing anything. Xander and I will hang out at home. I'm making us a pumpkin pie, mashed potatoes, ham sandwich for me, Gerber veggies for baby, and some chocolate. I'm excited to watch the Macy's day parade. I wasn't sure it would be on over here, so I'm glad I won't miss it. Last year we were in Italy, so we missed it. Everyone invited us to their homes for dinner tomorrow, but I declined all offers. I just want to stay home with Xander and watch the traditional Thanksgiving day shows and finish setting up the Christmas stuff.m
Next week is my OB appointment on Monday and the anatomy scan is on Wednesday. I'm nervous for both appointments. I'm not sure I will ever embrace this pregnancy. I really want to, but I'm having an extremely hard time. My friend offered to come to the anatomy scan with me, but I'm not sure. That might be weird. What if something is wrong? I'm not sure I'd want her there trying to comfort me and talk the... it will be okay talk to me. she's going to watch Xander for me, but if I let her come with me, her husband will watch the twins and Xander. I'm not sure.
Going to bed in hopes that it will be a full nights rest. But first, I'm a bit nervous to sleep because the dosage for the tylenol the doctor gave me just seems so high. I've only been giving him .8 ml since he was 4 months, now this new bottle of Tylenol they say to give 4ml...not .4, but 4! That seems like so much for his little body. I hope he will be fine and we both can get rest tonight. Teething is definitely not any fun for my poor baby!

Have a great day!

Roll over

So today is a big day in our household.  Xander FINALLY rolled over from his back to his belly!!!  I didn't think this was ever going to happen as he's already 7 1/2 months old.  I saw him get halfway over on his side, then kept rolling back to his back.  Finally, I grabbed the remote, he's in love with the thing, and he went all the way over!  In his own timing he will make progress.  Today we have been working on crawling also.  He gets into position so well and will scoot both his knees at the same time, but no actual crawl yet.  He loves to stand against the coffee table, still wobbly, but he's working on it.  In his own time...that means, I have to back off, continue to encourage it, but don't push it so hard. 

Have a great day! 

E.mo.tion.al!!

This may be a bit too honest for the world wide web... So I have been extremely emotional for the past week and yesterday was my breaking point. Everything made me cry, the thought of having a baby made me cry, the thought of being pregnant made me cry, the thought of delivering a baby made me cry, the thought of losing this baby makes me cry, I cry when Nick looks at my growing belly, I cry that no company will ship the crib I want over here. I was a crybaby yesterday. I took it out on hubby yesterday when we were planning to try to capture some family pictures and he turned into his normal self trying to get out of it, coming up with every excuse to get out if it and making things into a huge rush made me break down. I didn't want to admit that it was the hormones because I really didn't think so, but then 2 hours later when I'm still crying, maybe it was? I've said some pretty mean things about this pregnancy, I think because I'm afraid to be happy and get attached. I'm sad that I don't get more time, just Xander and I, but am trying to come to terms with it. I don't understand how we can go ten years trying for a baby, going through MANY MANY infertility treatments, not carry a baby to term, adopt a baby, then 2 weeks after our family being together we are pregnant without any treatments? I'm confused. I'm scared. I'm in denial that all this is the way it's supposed to be. It's too soon I tell myself. Nothing I can do but try to relax and enjoy. As I was telling hubby this, he said I needed to start trying to enjoy the pregnancy and be happy because later after the baby is born I will regret not being happy. He is right. I will try. I just don't know how. Onto other things now... Xander is making a recovery. Yesterday he had 2 regular poops and 1 runny one. He's sleeping through the night, for the 4th night in a row now. He's not going to sleep before 1030 pm so I'm going to try to change that, but he's sleeping till 7-730 then going back to sleep after diaper change and bottle. It's so nice to sleep through the night again. We decorated our Christmas tree on Friday. Nick actually wanted to help this year so we did it early. I usually do it the weekend after Thanksgiving, but since he's going to be gone, he brought the tree up early and we decorated early. No harm, just get to enjoy it more. We also wrapped the presents we had bought, and the one from Nana so far. the weekend after Thanksgiving I will hang the door hangings and the lights on the windows and patio. I'm 23 weeks 1 day today. I feel the baby move a lot now. It's all surreal. I actually laughed a few nights ago because I didn't feel anything all day and the second I placed the Doppler on my belly, baby was moving all over the place and it felt so weird. Have a great day!

Virus

Well Xander came down with the gastroenteritis bug somehow.  We were out on Monday and Wednesday since we've been back, so I suppose him just touching things then putting his hands in his mouth will do it.  His poor bumper is so red!  The rash has increased with each runny diaper.  This all started on Tuesday evening where he had 2 runny diapers...but he slept 7 hours that night without any runny diapers!  Wednesday he woke up and was fine for an hour or so then it started again.  He had 4 throughout the day, then at 9pm he had the poopies every 2 hours all night long.  I decided to give the nurse a call and see if it was just teething or something more and she said it was most likely the virus going around because there have been many complaints of it.  She gave me some home remedies and since he's eating fine and peeing normally, nothing to worry about now.  We just have to let this run it's course and watch for dehydration.  Poor baby!  I feel bad for his little bumper as it's so sore from the rash that has developed.  So for now, we aren't using wipes...we rinse with warm water in the bath; we give 2 baths daily with baking soda in it and let him play for 10 minutes; keep putting ointment on to act as a barrier from the wetness; keep feeding him normally; add yogurt to his diet to get rid of the bacteria that is growing; and let him be naked for awhile after diaper changes, the more fresh air, the better. 

In a nutshell...

I can't believe that Xander is already 7 months old (on the 2nd).  He's quite the character and is developing his personality every day.  He's now sitting up on his own, really close to crawling, grabbing at everything he can, has his first tooth (on the 30th it popped out), and just a bowl full of sugar...that's 19 pounds 13 ounces of sugar!!
We returned from our trip to the states to visit family on Friday and Nick also returned from his temporary duty assignment that same day!  Our family was once again together, but is short lived because Nick is getting ready to leave again next week for a month.  He'll return the week before Christmas, so I'm excited that he won't be missing my favorite holiday.  We've already started ordering Christmas gifts for Xander...well Nick has.  It's hard to decide what he needs to have to help him develop and grow.  We don't want too many toys as it's just clutter and we don't deal well with clutter.  The choices are endless though and tough to decide on.
Our trip to the states was a great and it was so good to see everyone.  I had a hard time saying goodbye to my Grandma.  I stood in the back of the funeral home, looking up at the coffin, balling my eyes out for an hour and a half.  It was hard.  I'm glad I was able to get our tickets changed so I could say that goodbye.  I finally walked up to her to let her know that I love her and that the baby growing in me was growing strong.  She knew I was pregnant as I told her early on, but I told her at that time I was scared the pregnancy would end.  So I was happy to tell her the baby had a strong heart beat a few days earlier.  I was also excited to introduce her to Alexander.
After 5 days in Sioux Falls, SD for the funeral, I headed back up to North Dakota to spend time with my sister for the next month!  We had a great time and I'm so glad Xander was able to spend time with his cousins!  He loved playing with each of them, but I have to say I think the 2 year old was his favorite.  The 5 year old discovered that she can hold him and walk around with him, so that was her favorite thing to do with him.  They dressed him in tutu's, let him play with their dolls, and ride in their pink car.  Lets just say I hope this month around all girl toys won't have a negative affect on him.  I'm sure it won't, not like it would matter I guess.  My sister ended up staying dilated to 2 cm for a month!  She finally had her baby boy on Oct 18th just after midnight.  He is just the most precious baby ever!  I never did get a size up with the new baby and my big boy, but that's okay.  We have a lot of fun memories while we were staying with them. 
Now that we're back home, I'm working on getting Xander back on his sleeping schedule.  He would not get on schedule while we were on vacation and was up many times during the nights.  Last night was his first night of sleeping 7 hours straight!  Now, I've been exhausted being up with him every hour or two for the past month and a half, so 2 nights ago I decided to turn off the monitor in our room and let him cry it out.  The first night was hard for me and he cried...well fussed is more like it because he wasn't screaming or anything...for about an hour, then slept for 3 hours, fussed again for about 20 minutes and back to bed for another 2 hours.  Last night was much better, he fussed for 20 minutes and then slept for the next 7 hours.  I'm hoping this continues because I woke up feeling so rested!
Last night Xander had 2 runny diapers, and today so far another 2.  He's not finishing his bottles (he'll leave about an ounce or two of a 7 ounce bottle), but he's not crying in pain or anything.  Should I be giving him pedialite?   How long does this go on before I would need to take him in to see the doctor?  I'm not sure where this came from as I haven't given him any foods for 3 days now, only his formula.  We go in next Friday for his 6 month well baby...yes I'm aware he's 7 months, but we were away for his 6 month.  Maybe i'll ask her then even if it clears up by then? 
My brother in law also took some great pictures of Xander while we were there, so I'll post a few on here that we won't be sending out to family.  I'm excited to get them developed and hung out, passed out and create a Christmas card.  This weekend we plan to take a family picture to also add to the Christmas card.
I received my Bachelors degree diploma in the mail! It's so exciting to see it, I still need to take a picture with it...LOL. I know the next phase of beginning my Masters is right around the corner. I just can't decide if I want to start in January like planned or wait until August so I will be adjusted to life with 2 babies. This decision is tough because if I start in January I could be finished before we move in 2013, otherwise I will have almost a whole year left. I think I'd like to be done before the move, but I don't know if I will be able to handle all the work a Masters degree entails, taking care of the kids, and still doing everything around the house.

And now...picture overload

And there you have it, our life in the past month in a nutshell!

Sorry for the misspelled words as blogger wants to highlight every single word!  And I'm not going through all that...LOL

Have a great day!