a gigantic pain in the............................................................................................................................head

Can one not "feel" like they are stressed but their body does things to tell them otherwise? I feel pretty good. Happy in general. Relaxed most days. I enjoy life. Sure bills and such suck and the house situation bites the big one... but I was thinking I was handling things pretty well.

Then Monday came. I decided to stay home that morning with Cooper who had a pretty decent cold a'brewin. Shortly after 10 a.m. I was sitting at the computer and I started to see this zig-zag like flashing light in my right eye. I couldn't seem to see right. I had a blind spot where if I looked directly at an object I couldn't see it, but if I looked to the side of the object I could see it. So weird. But I now know what was happening was called aura. This same thing happened about a week and a half ago. But that was it. It just suddenly stopped.

Well this time it turned into a full blown migraine. And during the hours that followed, lying on the floor feeling like I was going to vomit, it still didn't dawn on me that this is what I was experiencing.

I didn't want to move. Cooper was sick. Ellie was being her usual busy body self who needed snacks, drinks, butt wiped, movies started, toys reached from the shelf, etc... and all I could do was lay on the floor. I felt terrible. Felt bad physically and felt bad for not being able to do anything for Ellie and being short with her. It took enough for me to move over to the computer and email Greg begging him to come home from work. 2 hours and 45 minutes after it started he walked through the door. Bless him. I fell asleep right there on the living room floor for over 2 hours.

I woke up feeling, as best I can describe it, like I had a stale headache. Dull, but still there. You know what I mean? Not fun. I hate them. I don't ever want another one. The pain, honestly, was worse than labor.

Do you get migraines? Why do they occur? How do you handle them? Can you avoid them?

Cooper's Birth Story

~ Thursday September 10th 2009 ~

I woke up this day with contractions from the get-go. They were sporadic. Mild. They didn't seem a ton different than all the braxton hicks I'd had in the prior 2 months. We went about our day. Had company over for a little play date. Then had a meeting in Hudson that evening for lia sophia. Hudson is almost an hour away for us so we weren't sure if we should go or not... but I figured why not, this is probably nothing anyways. So off we went. The meeting started at 7 and I was still feeling pretty good at that point. As the meeting went on though we were in small group discussion and I kept having more painful contractions. I tried my hardest not to let on that they were happening. But I was getting SO hot that I thought my face and neck must be beat red. As it was time to switch groups I asked my sister if I was red and she said I wasn't. We finished up the small groups and got back together as one large group. Awards were handed out for the month of August. Greg and I got King and Queen of sales again for our unit! Woot woot!! :) My manager also mentioned what a dedicated team we were to be there in the midst of possibly going into labor! Little did we all know how right she was! :)

During the drive home I was having more steady consistent and painful contractions. We got to my parents to pick up Ellie around 10:15 and were home by about 10:45. I got the feeling that my parents wanted us to stay in town for the night due to the contractions but I just really wanted to get home and sleep in my own bed. (We live about 30 minutes from town out in farm country... so it would take us that long to get to the hospital.)

~Friday September 11th 2009 ~

I finally crawled into bed around midnight. The contractions continued... I was woken up at 2 a.m. by much more painful contractions. I kept track of them until 2:40 (they were every 5 minutes apart) then I woke up Greg and said I think it's time to go. We called the hospital first and the OB nurse told me to take a bath and drink some water first... this is what they always say because if they are false contractions doing both those things will tend to ease the contractions and/or take them away completely. I was thinking... you take a bath and drink a couple glasses of water lady! I'm coming in!! But instead I said, the pain is so bad during the contractions that all I want to do is swear. She said, come on in! :)

We met my parents at the hospital. I was at about 3 minutes apart by then and oh did I have to pee. BAD. We made our way up to OB where they proceeded to hook me up to monitors and all that junk. IV was in. They checked me and I was 4 cm dilated. By this time it was 3:30 a.m.

Now is where all the timing goes awry in my brain. It was a blur between 3:30 a.m. and 9:45 a.m. when I was finally dilated to 10 cm. During this time I was given an IV drug that I thought would be able to get me thru labor so I wouldn't need the epidural. Shaaa right. It worked for a bit in the beginning... maybe 30 minutes or so. I felt totally loopy and at ease... but then it wore off. By the time I was dilated to 6 cm I asked for the epi. It was given to me and I was comfortable... but then something happened and it only was working on the left side of my body. I was having this very direct pain in one particular spot in my abdomen area on the right side that hurt more and more with each contraction.

During all this the monitors were picking up a heartbeat for Cooper at about 60-70 some beats per minute. This was WAY to low as it should be around 120-140 ish... but soon they realized they were picking up MY heartbeat. Thank God.

The contractions continued and that spot in my abdomen continued to hurt like hell. The nurse offered to have anesthesia come up and give me something else to help take the edge off and I was so nervous to take MORE drugs but I finally just said YES PLEASE! So they gave me to more injections in my IV and oh as quick as that the pain was gone. Gone in between contractions anyway. It was just so weird, I had the epidural but I could still feel every single contraction. Just in a lessor form.

Finally it was 9:45 and I was dilated to 10 cm. I knew Ellie and my parents had just gotten to the hospital as we all thought it would take longer to get to 10... and the nurse said pushing now wasn't imminent so if I wanted to spend a few minutes with Ellie before starting to push I could. So in came my beautiful little girl with my parents. They spent about 15 minutes with us and took one last family picture before leaving. It was such an emotional time for me. I was sad that our family of 3 was changing (here I go, crying again right now), it was time to push (the hardest part was still ahead of me and I knew it), my parents, Greg and Katie were emotional and I was so scared to start pushing. SO SCARED. I was bawling. I knew what the result was 3 years ago when I pushed and I just was dreading the entire thing again. Dr. S came up to me many times during laboring just to comfort me and assure me that the second time around was usually very different than the first. He was such a great doctor. I was blessed to have him AND my pediatrician for Ellie on staff that day/weekend.

Time to push. I was pissed. I thought everyone was lying to me. I was tired of hearing the, "good job Kris's", the "you're doing greats", the "keep it ups"... I just wanted to say shut the eff up and tell me the truth... I didn't feel like the pushing was doing anything. I wanted to give up many times and the thought that ran thru my head most often was... can I just have a C-section please? But as time went on I do have to say this labor was SO very different than Ellie's. I was able to move around. Push on my back, pull on the overhead bar, get up and lean on the overhead bar and push in a squatting position and then finally found the position that worked... I lay on my right side with my left leg being held up to my chest by Katie or Greg and pushed. This is how I was the entire remainder of the delivery.

This time around I was so much more aware of my surroundings. I felt like I was involved in this delivery. I could feel every contraction. Every bit of pressure. But yet it was so peaceful (after all the drugs set in ;)). I was so aware of everything that at one point it was SO damn quiet in the room I asked that they turn on CMT so I could at least hear some music during all this!

Cooper's head was finally making it down the canal and with each push Dr. S would tell me, ok - we are at the knuckle in the middle of my finger, ok- we are at the knuckle nearest my fingernail... this helped SO much because I was able to understand just how close Coopers head was to the outside world! I felt with each push that I just had to push a little harder and it would all be over!

And finally, after pushing for just a little over 2.5 hours it was over. His head was out... then his little body. He was on me in an instant and stayed there for quite some time. Greg cut the cord. They told me that I should let them know when I was ready to have him weighed, etc. They didn't whisk him off for tests, etc. With Ellie it was so different because she had her umbilical cord wrapped around her neck twice and they had to use the vacuum to get her out. It was such chaos and confusion. I didn't know what was happening, Greg didn't get to cut her cord, there were so many distractions and fears of the unknown that I just didn't get to enjoy the moment.

With Ellie I had 3rd degree tears up and down my perineum and deep into the area. This time around I had only 5 stitches and probably would have had less but Dr. S found a cyst inside my perineum that he removed. (Dr. S just called today and said it was benign.) I am definitely sore and will need a good couple weeks to heal... I think my tail bone area took the brunt of the delivery... it is very, very sore... but I just feel so good. I can sit for periods, walk, play with Ellie and pretty much go on as usual. With Ellie I was unable to sit in a car without a donut pillow for weeks!

And if you can believe it, while it hurt like hell, I enjoyed Coopers labor and delivery. It was so beautiful. So, so beautiful. Greg will kill me for saying this when he reads this... but while the day after delivery I said, WE ARE DONE! Now, 6 days later I'm like... hmm... I'm loving this baby thing... I would SO do it again!! :)

Another difference this time around is that I'm so peaceful at home. I was very sad to leave the nurses as they are such a crutch for a new mom. Always there with the push of a button for help, with answers to your questions, with drugs :), with food, etc... I really still do miss them. But with Ellie I was in such a new place. I didn't know what I was doing. I was breast feeding and couldn't believe how much time I had to spend feeding her. I was angry and frustrated a lot of the time. This time I just am at ease. I am happy to go have 20 quiet minutes with Cooper 15,000 times a day so he can eat. He is just this beautiful little being who needs me to feed him and kiss him and love him with patience and I am able to do it so much easier this time around and I'm not sure why? Maybe I'm no longer scared that I'm not doing something right. Or maybe just knowing that I've done this before and knowing that Ellie has grown into a beautiful smart as a whip little girl, that I can do it again, no problem.

Oh I love being a mom. Love it.

for real? wow. makes my second guessing about sending ellie to preschool a tad more justifiable!

N.Y. Schools Ban Touching To Fight H1N1

Students Urged To Have No Skin-On-Skin Contact With Swine Flu Outbreak Looming

Track The H1N1, Or Swine Flu, Virus: CDC | WHO

CBS News Interactive: H1N1 Virus

NEW YORK (CBS) ―

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DNA test kits of the the influenza A(H1N1) or Swine Flu virus prepared by PrimerDesign Ltd are displayed at the company laboratory in Southampton on May 2, 2009.

Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images

Related Links

• CBS News Interactive: H1N1 Virus
• WCBS-TV Local Coverage

As students across America prepare to head back to school, officials and parents are bracing for a spike in swine flu cases. With the possibility that nearly 2 million people will be hospitalized, and 90,000 people across the country could die, one school district is taking no chances and has set into place a new "hands-off" approach to fighting the swine flu.

Chest bumps. High fives. Hugs and handshakes. Glen Cove Middle School students Ali Slaughter and Hannah Seltzer say that's what friends do on the first day of school. But when students in the Nassau community return to school next week, the superintendent will be urging abstinence. Everyone from the tiniest tots to the biggest high school football players will be asked to limit skin-on-skin contact in an attempt to prevent the spread of swine flu when it re-emerges this fall.

"It will [be hard] because you really like your friends and you didn't get to see them," Seltzer told WCBS-TV in New York.

Glen Cove high schooler Erica Cohen is on the soccer team, but says she knows even in a game that involves close physical content, she'll have to be as careful as she can be.

• CDC Web Site On H1N1
• CDC Map Of H1N1 Infection Estimates
• WHO's Web Site On H1N1
• Map Of H1N1 Cases Worldwide
• Video: Symptoms Of H1N1

"I don't really think it's such a big deal, if you wash your hands after - I think it's just you really can't avoid it," she says.

Lorena Galo filled out her health form and decided she can't give up hugging. "We're still going to hug either way," she says.

The policy is unorthodox and could be difficult to enforce, but Nassau Health Commissioner Dr. Maria Torroella Carney says it's a good way to educate awareness.

"Many people are trying to think outside of the box, creatively, how to minimize spread of the illness, how to protect others, and I applaud that thinking," she says.

Glen Cove parent Leonard Imperial thinks no touching is an overreaction.

"Unfortunately people get sick with flu and die every year, but I don't think this one is any different or particular that we have to worry about," he says.

But Parent Angela Hamel is already urging her sons follow the new guidelines.

"The high fives, I think just to cut down on transmission, it's probably good idea," she says. "I think it's a good way to prevent."

And many other parents seem to agree.

"Less contact would mean less germs and less illnesses and I think it's a good recommendation," says Donna Sita.

While they fear the spread of swine flu, health officials say they are more concerned about the possibility of widespread anxiety or panic when school begins. Officials are asking families to have tissues, ibuprofen and hand sanitizers on hand for students. School superintendants are gathering Thursday on Long Island to discuss prevention and address other concerns

"Hysteria should be avoided, but it's good that the school district is emphasizing keeping kids safe. Not touching won't prevent transmission. The virus can live on surfaces and be transmitted via coughs and sneezes," Dr. Holly Phillips says.

So why is talk of the swine flu cropping up again, and when will it hit its peak?

"It never left, but like the seasonal flu, we're expecting it to pick up in October and hit its peak during the winter months when we're closed inside and the illness is more easily transmitted," Phillips says. "The Center for Disease Control is expecting between 30 and 50 percent of Americans will be affected by it."

As for the swine flu vaccine, Phillips says it should be out by mid-October, but at that time there will not be enough for everyone. She expects by the end of the year there will be 200 million doses available.

In the meantime, there are steps people can take to protect their families.

"Stay home if you're sick. Wash your hands," says Phillips. "Get to the doctor early with symptoms because anti-viral medications can shorten the course of the illness."

37 w 6 d

This is me. This is my best friend the couch. This is where I sit for hours each day. Where I sleep. Usually where I eat. Where I have had contractions for the last 2 days (dilated to 2 and 50% effaced) and now today... I've had NONE. I thought last night might be it. They were coming more frequently and stronger. And now... I have the couch to look forward to for another day. Ugh.


We had scheduled to have our tv turned off yesterday. Cable is gone. I've had cable since I was born I think. I'm jonesen for some good tv right about now... what were we thinking?? We should have waited until this baby came and I had no time to watch it... now I'm just plain bored. Yes I have books and movies... but you can only watch The Incredibles so many times. I am ready to get the show on the road. If you've got any good books, movies or tv show on dvd feel free to send them my way... this might still be a while.

I am feeling pretty good... just the normal heaviness, pressure, fatigue, tailbone soreness, peeing alot and on and off contractions. Had another dr appt yesterday. Was quick and painless. Bp was good, weight the same, normal urine... nothing big.

I've caught a really bad cold from Ellie. It has been one week today. The first couple days I had tons of drainage from my nose and a sore throat. Then it went to the runny nose and sneezes. Now it is a terrible phlegmy cough deep in my chest. I can feel it rattle when I breath in. My throat has started to hurt again today... but I was up coughing alot last night... and my ears are bothering me a bit. That should be a fun thing to go through labor with, huh?!

With all the time I've been spending on the couch... Ellie has been eating wonderful meals...

...like cookies at 9 in the morning...
and wearing crazy outfits... like her monkey pj dress over her penguin pj's... whatever. I don't have the energy to really care at this point! She must think I'm the best mommy ever right now.

I'm proud to say that last night was the first night we tried to do an overnight in underwear and she didn't wet the bed! We've been potty trained for quite some time now but have not attempted the nighttime thing... we've stuck with pull-ups (which are always loaded with pee in the a.m.). Well, they are expensive so last night I thought we'd just give it a go. It worked!! She woke me up a few minutes to 6 this morning to go potty! I'm so impressed. So proud. I pray it continues and it was really that easy.

The couch is calling... time to go lay down. :)

pregnancy is SO MUCH FUN!

The last couple Sunday evenings I have been spending the night at my friend Tanya's house. I do this because her work schedule has changed and she needs daycare on Mondays. This way I can just wake up there rather than have to leave my house at 4:30 in the morning to get there before she needs to get to work.

Well last night I got there around 8:30. Hunter (her daughter) was already in bed and Tanya was heading to bed. So I took Ellie and we just headed upstairs to bed (we share a bed at T's). We read a few books, talked and sang a few songs. She eventually fell asleep and I followed about 10:45.

1:02 a.m. - up to pee

2:26 a.m. - up with very uncomfortable contractions. They are coming every 3-6 minutes. I am in pain. Something on the right side of my belly is causing a small circular area of my belly to really, really hurt. I sit, change positions drink water. Nothing helps. This continues on for over an hour.

3:38 a.m. - the pain is getting worse so I decide to go downstairs and get in the bathtub. I knew Tanya had to be up shortly to get ready for work so I woke her up first to check what time she had to get into the bathroom... 4:10 - so I told her I was going to sit in the tub for 10 minutes or so.

3:40 a.m. - texted Greg. He didn't wake up. I wasn't sure I really needed him up either so I just let it go. He was at home and I was sure that this wasn't the real thing at that point. And just like I'd thought... the bath helped. The contractions died down and became less severe.

4:15 a.m. - am out of the tub, back in my pj's and heading back to bed. Still uncomfortable but managed to fall asleep.

5:43 a.m. - YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME... my lovely daughter wakes up. She tells me it's light outside and that means it's time to get up. SHAAAA-right Ellie. Lay down and go back to bed. We do (but take a potty break first).

6:50 a.m. - she's up again. This time I just lay there until my alarm goes off at 7.

7:10 a.m. - we're up. Hunter hears us and gets up. I am barely functional! Contractions are seriously exhausting. I give them breakfast. Then have to jump in the shower for my 9 a.m. dr appt.

8:15 a.m. - Greg shows up at T's with a Starbucks for me!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE HIM! Katie shows up at 8:30 to watch the girls and we're off to my appt.

Appt highlights:

blood draw for hemoglobin - 11.3 (normal)

bp - 96/60

strep B - results in a few days

ultra sound - baby's head is down

heartbeat - perfect

weight - up 5 lbs (yay!! it's about time)

cervical check - dilated to 1, cervix is very soft, she could feel the baby's head!!

sobbing - yes, yes I sobbed to Jana... wishing I could have the baby today... told her about the night before, my pain, the huge baby in me making things SO uncomfortable, the heartburn, the fatigue, the back pain, the hip pain, the perineal pain... I'll spare you the rest of the details... but all I got was a big "NOPE! No baby today Kris" I cried even harder then.

Jana told me I needed to get more rest and run around less. That the exhaustion was making me more emotional and weepy and that I needed to save up my energy and strength for the actual labor... that if I was this emotional and fatigued when it came time to the real thing I would not have the energy to get thru the contractions and pushing and I did not want to end up with a C-section. So yeah. Rest, rest, rest and start taking Tylenol PM. I'm going to give it a try... but it is so hard for me to ask someone to clean for me or take Ellie for me... I feel like some will think I'm just being lazy and taking advantage of my situation, ya know? Why is it so hard to ask for help?? She also suggested I ask my parents or sister to take Ellie overnight over these next few weeks. So I did ask that they do that once a week or so.

I just don't remember things being this hard with Ellie's pregnancy. I worked until 13 days before delivery. I never missed a day of work during that pregnancy. This time around I cannot imagine how much more tired I'd be if I had to go to work all day 5 days a week. For example this night I describe above... up for hours with contractions and peeing... then to get up at 5:45 to shower and get ready for work, get Ellie up and off to daycare, then go to work all day. Goodness that makes me tired just thinking about it and typing it.

A few more weeks. I can do this. I can do this.

If you need me in the next few weeks I'll be the one laying on the couch vegging out while my poor daughter is forced to watch every single movie in her collection... twice.

time to get on with it

I want to have this baby now. I am tired of heartburn. Tired of being tired, uncomfortable and tired of having joint and back pain. Tired of worrying.

Can this happen at week 36? (I'll be there Wednesday)

Reality has set in. I'm scared. Scared of the pain of labor. Scared of the possibility of being home alone with Ellie (Greg works weird night shift work right now) when labor starts. Scared of severe tearing like I had with Ellie. (My perineal area must know what is coming and is preparing itself... because it is so swollen, sore and tender... it feels raw. This totally freaks me out). Scared of not getting there in time for an epidural and having to do it all on my own. Scared of pushing. Scared that I won't have the energy to push and get thru the labor... because I am so exhausted with trying to clean/prepare my house and baby stuff and chasing Ellie around every day. I think I'm more scared this time than last because I know what to expect... and although I did heal last time... it was a long road of bottom pain, sore nipples from breast feeding... etc, etc. I am just so scared of so many things. I want this to all be over!

I slept terrible last night. This must be affecting my emotional state today because I am just kinda weepy and want this baby out now. I want to get past all my worries and the pain and be home with my baby.

I have an appointment tomorrow... I am praying that I'm dilated to at least 3, 4 would be nice because I would feel like I'm more on my way to delivery... I have had on and off contractions throughout the last few days... nothing real steady. We will have an ultrasound tomorrow to check on the baby's position. Will also be tested for strep B.

Hope everything is good tomorrow... I'm ready to get on with it!

labor already? (started this post Sat 8/1 and am just finishing it tonight Mon 8/3)

We've had an interesting 2 days in our household... here goes.

Thursday night I turned the lights out at about 10:45. I started having painful and consistent contractions every 3-5 minutes from that point on until 11:30ish, when I finally thought I better get up and call the hospital. The nurse suggested I get up, change positions, take a bath, drink as much water as I could and call her back after trying all those things if the contractions didn't go away.

I was home alone with Ellie as Greg was working overnights. I was really quite nervous. With each contraction I could feel my heart pounding and my anxiety increasing. My lower back hurt so bad and my entire stomach was hard as a rock. Just before getting in the tub I had a bought of diarrhea (hello sign of labor!!) As I got in the tub I decided to call Greg and let him know what was happening. It was about 11:45 at that point. I wasn't sure Greg really needed to race home. I just thought I was having false labor and it would go away any minute. I continued to have the contractions in the tub. Greg called back around 12:15 to see how I was. I was still sitting in the tub and didn't want to move. He told me he'd call me back at 1 a.m. By the time 1 rolled around I was dressed and back in bed. The contractions had decreased in intensity and weren't coming as often. We decided that Greg would come home anyway since now I would be so tired the next day that at least he could be up with Ellie rather than need to sleep all day due to working until 6 a.m. He came home around 1:30 a.m. We sat in bed and he read all my forms from the hospital and a section of my book "What to Expect when you're Expecting." He wanted to call the nurse back and talk to her more about what I was feeling, but I thought that things were dying down so we didn't.

I finally fell asleep around 2:30 and Greg shortly after. Ellie was up shortly after 7 and Greg got up with her and I think I rolled out of bed around 9. All I did was come out to the living room and lay down on the couch and the dang contractions started up again. This time more sporadic, like every 5-10 minutes and much less painful than the night before.

I was totally uncomfortable. I felt like something had changed inside. Maybe the baby's position? Remember he was sideways. I felt so much pressure and pushing on my "area" and my bladder. I was thinking that maybe he'd lowered in preparation for delivery... but was thinking - delivery cannot come today!!

At 10:45 I called the clinic after some coaxing from Jess and Greg (I have no idea why I think/feel the way I do... I just don't want them all laughing when I leave and thinking... oh the silly girl, she thought that was real labor, she'll know when the real labor starts!) But this nurse I spoke with was SO nice. She asked me a bunch of questions and asked if I could come in right away. When we arrived at the clinic and I did the normal pee in a cup, weight check, bp, etc. Remember I had my normal OB check on Thursday morning and I'd gained 4 lbs? Well this was the very next morning and I'd lost those 4 lbs already?! I was shocked. My urine also showed keytones again (just 24 hours earlier it was normal) and my bp had increased just a bit.

The nurse that roomed us couldn't have acted like she was in any more of a hurry to get to her lunch break. I hate that, I thought it was so rude. Here we are scared out of our mind thinking I might be going into labor at 33 weeks, would have to be admitted to try to stop the contractions and if that didn't work I'd be shipped to the U where they are more prepared to handle premature deliveries... and she was not in the least caring or having any empathy. That sucked.

Dr. S came in and asked me a few more questions. He ran a test to check for something in my va-jay-jay and said if it came back positive the likelihood that I'd deliver in the next 2 weeks was 1 in 6. If it came back negative the likelihood that I'd deliver in the next 2 weeks was something like 1 in 220. If it came back positive they'd admit me and monitor my contractions and give me something to try and stop the contractions and then we'd have to discuss bed rest. He checked my cervix and it was a finger width dilated. (not sure exactly how much that is? 1-2 centimeters?? anyone know? i forgot to ask.)

Dr. S thought, based on the keytones in my urine, that I may be dehydrated. I just don't know how I go from ok to dehydrated in 24 hours?? I drink water. I eat fruit. I drink milk. (Plus a coffee and a pop now and then.) I just don't get the dehydration thing. But whatev. He made me finish my bottle of water before I left the appt. Which I did.

We left our appt and were told he'd call us within and hour with the results. We had to stay in town in case the result was positive and I had to come back in for monitoring. Luckily things came back negative and Dr. S told me to make sure I'm resting enough each day, drinking enough water and to call/come back in if my contractions started up again or got worse.

Things have calmed down a bit. I've taken time outs every now and then to rest if we are having a busy day. I'm drinking a lot more water. The contractions are gone now for the most part. I know I still have one once in a while with the belly hardening but they aren't painful. I feel more like myself. Those 12 hours of contractions had me feeling so weird. Like I was not in control of my body and I didn't like it one bit.

I'll be 34 weeks on Wednesday. Let's pray I get to at least 37 weeks before I feel anymore contractions like that again!!

26 week appt -

• bp was 104/64 (seems a tad low to me)
• had protein in my urine again - no swelling yet though so they don't seem real concerned
• have been having some headaches and seeing stars... they did blood work and my hemoglobin and Hct were a tad low... again nothing big, was just told to quit forgetting to take my vitamins... I always forget them! The lab told me I have the tiniest veins ever and had to draw blood from my hand... OUCH.
• gained 1lb since my last visit 4 weeks ago... my NP is not real pleased with my weight gain... I am 1lb up from my pre-pregnancy weight... I went down 5lbs in the beginning (to much puking) and now have gained 6lbs back since February.
• I was still 25 weeks pg at the time of my appt (Monday) and I measured at 29 weeks... my NP said they are ok with a measurement of 2 weeks above or below the week I'm at... I measured almost 4 weeks above where I should have been at... this kinda freaks me out... I'm planning on a late August baby I do believe.
• drank my lovely glucose test drink... chose lemon-lime this time... blaaah it was gross.
• forgot to attend a labor and delivery review class... blame it on the scatter-brained pregnant girl.
• will be attending a sibling class with Ellie in August... can't wait for that... she is going to have a blast learning about the baby... she even gets to bring a baby doll and practice diapering it!
• have been having some whoo-haa pain... in between whoo-haa #1 and whoo-haa #2 if you know what I mean... where I tore before... ouchy... it's like that little area of skin knows what is coming and it stretching and getting prepared... my NP says to "massage it"... o.u.c.h.y. not so sure about that one... I am dreading that pain again...

Overall I've been feeling pretty good. I'm much more tired last time around. But am adjusting to some life changes lately and have been chasing around a 3 year old... I didn't have either of these things during my first pregnancy. Other than the headaches, some weird restless leg issues in the evening and peeing every 2 minutes I don't have to many complaints. But I am definitely ready for September to get here!!

We all have our political beliefs... I don't like to talk about them to much cause I don't want a bunch of mean comments left for me. But I just cringe when I hear Palin say she doesn't believe in abortion even in the case of incest or rape. She'd like to offer them counseling and adoption opportunities. Try telling that to a 12 year old girl who is pregnant by her uncle. Seriously. What the hell? This infuriates me. Makes me ill. I want to protect my daughter from, god help us, this ever happening to her some day. I can't imagine telling my 12 year old, that no, you've got to carry the baby for 9 months and be reminded every single second of every single day who did this to you and then after all that you are going to go thru labor and delivery and then give the baby away, and then deal with healing, milk supply, emotions... all because someone else thinks they can make a better decision about your body than you can. Sick.

back to reality

I am so glad to be home from vacation and back into a routine with E. It was challenging to be somewhere unfamiliar to her and expect her to stay on schedule... sleeping in a strange crib, in a strange room, living in a cabin w/ 2 other families... I can't blame her for being out of it. It is nice to be home and having her take her 2, 2 plus hour naps each day... still! I am just waiting for the day that changes... oh, how I don't want it to change!!!

When I returned to work after being gone for a week I expected to see piles and piles of work to do. It actually wasn't so bad. My inbox was full and I had a lot of new case openings. But by the end of the week I felt pretty good about where I was and now know next time not to be to worried about taking a vacation!

It is labor day weekend and I have tomorrow off!! YIPPEEEEEEEEE!! I love working for the county! You get those great benefits of holidays paid! At my old job I was usually working on those days. Memorial day, the 4th, Labor day, the day after Thanksgiving (we get that off paid!!) among many other days. It is great. I'm so not used to this and I LOVE it :).

G was forced in last night on a overnight shift. E and I are up already (since 5:56 :( ) and G should be home any minute to crash. I am hoping when he wakes up we can run down to Bar.nes & No.ble so I can use a g.c. that his mom gave me for my birthday in July. I still haven't had time to use it and I know there are many good books I've been wanting to read. I love books... everyone collects something... I think books are my thing.

For all my readers outside of MN... there was horrific flooding that happened in SE MN during the week we were up north for vacation... people out of there homes, buildings, cars and people swept away, really bad. I work for a social service agency and our director sent around an email saying that anyone who wanted to go down to the affected counties and volunteer at a FEMA tent... (offering emotional support to the people who come in or we'd be walking out into the neighborhoods and just mingle... asking people if they need anything... cleaning supplies, food, water, diapers, etc) could and would get paid for a normal days work! That rocks. I am so looking forward to going. I'm sure I will see somethings I wish I hadn't. I'm sure I'll see some awesome moments of how good human beings really can be. And I'm sure I'll need my package of tissues! I am going to bring the camera, but have been told I cannot take pictures of the damages... only us helping out. I will post some pics as soon as I can.

This post is going in 20 different directions...

The other night E was taking a bath and I thought, why not let her play in the tub and I'll use that moment of free time to clean the bathroom. So she's in the tub (right next to me) and I'm washing the floor. When all the sudden she is grunting... yes she shit in her bath water! I slightly freaked and lifted her out, scooped the poop out w/ tp and threw it in the toilet. I was hysterically laughing this entire time. I let the water out and cleaned the tub... filled the tub back up and put her back in... not 10 seconds later I hear some fart bubbles and look back in and she's done it again... only this time it was diahrrea! I should have learned the first time....so I pulled her out again, cleaned the tub and toys, filled the tub again and gave her a quick bath and we were out of there! For your enjoyment I have posted a picture... I could not stop laughing! And no she isn't drinking poop water, she just likes to pour the water out onto her belly... notice the floating poop... there is also a little one near the drain plug!

And a few more pics...


This was our last day of vacation... we had just checked out... :( I wish this resort was my home!

This is what she did most of the 3 hour drive home! It was a nice quiet trip home! :)

I've got a little monkey trying to crawl into my lap... I've gotta run. Take care. K
(this was actually posted on Sunday at 7:35 a.m.)

Evening... well I'd have to say that was the hardest day of my life so far. Yes, I think it was even harder than the labor I went through to get E here! I dropped her off at my day care this a.m. around 9:15. I cried the whole way there, the whole time I was there and until about 1:30 at work. I just can't believe how much and how quickly I've fallen in love with this little girl! She is the best thing that's happened to me... along w/ G. To say the least I am absolutely drained tonight. Thank god I have wonderful employers who just let me go about my day and let it all out!

I actually miss my job... being there today reminded me how much I like it. I love working w/ our customers, ordering merchandise, the relaxed atmosphere... its just a nice place to be. I sorta felt proud today, like I joined the ranks of the working moms of the world. Dorky I know but it made me feel kinda cool!

It's a little after 10 and E is FINALLY getting the tired eyes... if I was smart I'd put this thing away and sleep while she does. But do any new moms ever do what they say, "sleep when the baby sleeps," yeah right. It's like you finally get a few minutes of peace and quiet to yourself, why would you waste it sleeping??? There's to many other things to do... wash bottles, dishes, laundry, play on the computer, read, pick up the house, eat dinner, pack her bag for tomorrow, pump, etc...
actually I need to pump, so night ya'll...

K