Getting back to it

This happened today. Sigh. At least I have the most flexible and understanding work schedule around. Think I'll stay home the rest of the week, thank you very much...

And to make my Monday marvelous, it began with this:

Welcome!

Name: Joseph Peter "Pete" Adamo

Stats: 8lbs 14oz, 20 1/2 in

Birth: nothing too exciting...that's a good thing!

Demeanor: chill, chill, chill

Favorites: sleeping, eating (unless he'd rather sleep!), sleeping, watching and listening to Sissy

How's mom doing: amazing...

He's here...

Well I'll say this - it's way harder to say you'll stop at two babies when you're snuggling your second one and he's an absolutely perfect gift from Heaven. Decisions, decisions...

We're almost there! (Wrote this last week - thought it published!)

Well, I'm at 36+ weeks and apparently there are 1,000+ scenarios for what could happen in the next 3 weeks. This is a tough realization for anyone trying to plan anything around this baby (I think I'm the only one who has thrown in the towel already and said "bring it on").

Over the last 6 weeks, I've had blood pressure issues (not enough to become an emergency, but enough to be considered high risk) and last week I experienced my first ocular migraine (no headache! Just crazy blurred vision in a random crescent shape...my mom had two last year so we knew exactly what it was...phew!). That combined with protein in my samples meant cause for pre-eclampsia concern. Thankfully, I keep passing blood tests and non-stress test sonos every time! Dr. T prepared us for the likelihood she'd need to take this guy at 38 weeks to ensure Mommy's safety. 

(Love her - she inquired when my finals were, which are scheduled for 38 1/2 weeks - and agreed she'd do her best to wait until they're done!)

Then yesterday's appointment happened. Blood tests and pee tests came back looking great, blood pressure was the lowest it's been in weeks (despite being taken right after a Bridget tantrum - appts at 2:30 aren't ideal for us)...she starting saying maybe we can wait til he comes on his own! Fast forward to cervix check. 1cm on Friday - 2 1/2 on Wednesday. Sooo...basically he have no clue what this baby has in store for us. Maybe arriving in a few days! Maybe dilating fast now only to stall for weeks. Maybe induced for safety reasons. Thankful this is out of my hands, that's all I can say :).

Lately we've been enjoying our time as a family of 3 as much as possible. Won't be long before the world flips on its head and things are forever changed! A few iPhone pics of recent events:

TTC #5: No crying at work, Anna! (written August 8, 2013)

Well, this is it. The last post I wrote about trying to get pregnant before it finally happened. I remember how I felt when I wrote this post and I hope I don't forget those feelings for a long while. I really has brought a certain perspective to my life that I think is incredibly healthy and humbling. I can't believe we're 53 days away from meeting the little person we struggled so much to make. Now any tears are caused my pregnancy hormones, not period hormones!

Eh, it's cool. It wouldn't be the first time I've cried at this darn place. First time I was about 18, working a little in the summer as the fill-in receptionist, and was allowed to bring a book to the desk during down times. Naive me brought My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult. Yep, you know the one. Flash flood of tears for at least the last 50 pages.

I certainly cried this past December (think 2012) as I was glued to my computer screen reading updates about the Newtown school shooting. Tearing up just thinking about it again...

Today I'm being super strong. Hahahaha. Yeah right.

It probably wasn't the best day to call, but I went ahead and got it out of the way. Got my period this morning (as usual, my mind knew it was coming but my heart was still holding on to any and every "different" sort of feeling I'd been experiencing in the last 2 weeks hoping it meant good news) so I followed through with the promise I'd made myself. If I get to August and nothing has happened, its time to call Dr. T and let her know we needed to discuss THE NEXT STEP. Just called and it will be a little over two weeks until an open appointment, so there ya go. Sigh. C'est la vie. It is was it is at this point. But damn these female hormones during my period!!! Damn you, period!!! I'm sort of laughing as I type that...sort of.

*****break this post for 5 minutes when my dad knocks on the door to ask me about a work related question. WATERWORKS. Attempt to curb my normal hyperventilate-cry issue. Deep breaths. Resume****************

I crack myself up. Lastly, I'll end this with a nice anecdote to help me feel a little better. Bridget has been having a tough time closing the summer now that Jonathan is back at work, I'm still working 3 days a week, and her school is not yet open (not til Labor Day week). That means she is left to return to her home sitter (we love Miss Kathy!), which is not her favorite place in the world to be (she loooooooooooooves her school) but its the best place for her right now for consistency. To prep her for a good day today, and to remind her that she's be spending a little more time at Miss Kathy's over the next 3 weeks, we had a little talk about being positive even when we don't want to be. My words: "Sweetie, its your decision to make your day a good day. If you're upset, that's okay. If you want time to yourself, that's okay. But you'll probably have more fun if you choose to play with the other kiddos, choose to do your activities, and choose to be happy. I don't know about you, but I'm going to choose to be happy today." Her words: "Me too, Mommy."

So that's it. I'm gonna talk the talk and walk the walk. I'm choosing to be happy. And hey, it's like I've been saying for a year. Another period arriving means another month I can still plan to start exercising (darn you, heat!) and dieting so I can lose a little weight before baby time. Let's do this!

Just for posterity (written Halloween Eve)

Just saw this draft sitting in my que. It makes me smile to read it - short and sweet :).

Had our 12 week + one day doc appointment yesterday. It went great!

(excuse me while I may just throw up at my work desk right now...dammit! this sickness is supposed to subside now!)

Got to hear baby's heartbeat on the "tummy mic" (or DOPPLAR, as doc calls it) and it was instantly apparent, loud, and fast. Just what we all wanted to hear! Doc was pleased as punch and happy to schedule the next two appointments for me (arg...paying for these right before Christmas? It'll happen SOMEHOW) - a quick tummy check right before Thanksgiving and then our quad-screen test + sono in December, right before Christmas. That one should be an exciting day!

She told me she doesn't see any reason to hold off on telling the world our news...though I'm still hesitant to put it up on Facebook because I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings. Sure, sure...we all know I'll do it anyway. I just want to be as sensitive as I can for those out there who may be struggling with conception. We'll see what I decide to do, since I can't wait too long!

I'm thinking about putting it up on the blog in just a couple of days. Maybe even a special Halloween treat? Who am I kidding. I won't have my act together by tomorrow :). I have a cute photo idea to share the news, but I'm not sure we'll ever get around to taking the shot itself, what with my family's crazy schedule and all.

Back to work. I've got one last thing weighing on my shoulders right now for school (blah), which will come and go this Monday. After that is done, I can take a breather, celebrate a birthday (MINE!), watch this belly grow, and then start to think about finals. This time next year I'll be preparing for my final semester!!! Joy!!! Oh right...I'll also be out of my mind trying to wrangle TWO kiddos in and out of daycare/school. Oy.

Here! 32 weeks!

Make that 57 days and counting! I am totally ready for this baby to arrive...except for the whole "we've done nothing to prepare" thing. Who cares about that at this point, right?

Honeymoon over, that's for sure. I'm tired but can't sleep. Groin pain! Back pain! Tummy pain! Occasional days of high blood pressure, which isn't enough to be concerned about but when it happens the only thing I can do to combat it is sit/lay down and do nothing. A situation not known to the Adamo house. 

I'm ready for a margarita. I'm ready to be done with the needing-to-pee feeling. I'm ready to move faster and exercise again (who am I?). Oh, but I'm probably not ready for life as a mom of two! It is what it is. 

I know for certain I'm ready to find out what the next chapter brings us. Definitely less fear and anxiety this time than with Bridget. A healthy dose would probably be better than what I'm feeling now!

And still no name. Not even a short list. Blame Jonathan. I do.

Dat How My Hair Grow

Like crazy these days! Prenatal pills are making my mop look like a shaggy mess, so I'm going in for a cut after having it done 3 months ago. I'm a twice a year haircut kinda gal. This is weirding me out! It looks terrrrrrrrrrrrible in this pic...eh...to know me is to know I don't really care :).

All is well on the baby front these days - I'm still honeymooning, feeling good, and "enjoying" the pregnancy (not a true statement for ANYONE EVER, but you get it). As I told Gary at work today in response to the commonly asked question: "so how's the whole second-pregnancy-while-enduring-law-school thing working for you?" Well, G-man...it's working. Is there really an alternative? My honest reply is: "it could be worse" and it certainly could. Just like with Bridget, I'd heard pregnancy horror stories from many and reminded myself daily of the blessing a slightly above-average pregnancy can be. I don't take it for granted!

That said, my groin muscles/bones still hurt constantly and continue to get worse. Oww!

The need for Tums comes on radically and is insatiable. Thankfully it's very intermittent. Pregnancy heart burn is like none other!

Poor sleeping started a while ago and will just continue to get worse. This time around I'm actually okay with it. Yes, it sucks, but someone like me who gets plenty of sleep regularly needs a little kick in the pants to prepare for raising an infant again...and since B was truly the angel baby, I don't expect to be blessed in that manner again. A girl can dream! But she also needs to be prepared :).

Little man is ACTIVE. Moving all the time! 

I fear I'm just reaching the stage of "hungry all the time" and that blows. Thankfully that coincides with finishing off all the Girl Scout cookies in our pantry. It's a feat I'm not proud of...

Tonight is date night. Maybe we'll look over baby names! Eek!

It’s Finally Posted!

I crack myself for finally adding this video. Ah, posterity. You motivator, you! Enjoy Bridget’s 4th birthday interview. Better late than never (an aside – B has been way into colloquialisms lately, and we just discussed “better late than never” yesterday), I guess!

Playing Catch-Up!

I really don’t want to miss putting up some pics from activities we enjoyed this past Fall. Between school, the first trimester, and just life in general, it became pretty overwhelming to keep up with the ol’ blog. I’ll do what I can do do some catching up over the next few weeks…then maybe I’ll do a blog book for once!

Here’s some fun we had over Christmas break:

Bridget and I had quite the journey trying to keep up with our Advent Activity Calendar this season, but I’d say all in all we did a decent job (despite so many fun activities getting cancelled due to the ice weekend!). One of our favorites was seeing the Northpark Trains.

Just about tops for me this year was getting dressed up for Breakfast with Santa. Though I was sad to have missed our annual trip with our favorite Fair ladies (we’d decided not to partake this year, and then it ended up being cancelled due to ice anyway!), my Mom was happy to step in with an invite to breakfast at the Four Seasons. It did not disappoint! Santa was so attentive, the food was AMAZING, and it gave us a chance to spend quality time with Mimi & Pop. Oh! And we got to see our special friends, The Prewitts, too! Bonus!

I will never tire of the adorable kids buffet! Isn’t it the best?!

The next morning, we were all more than ready to share the gender news of Bridget’s new baby. We gathered with both families for an afternoon of holiday cookie decorating, but started the event with a balloon pop reveal. It’s a BOY!!

23 weeks...what Jenny McCarthy didn't tell me

Some things I've experienced that my favorite pregnancy book, "Belly Laughs", didn't warn me about (some of these things are new to this pregnancy, some were familiar foes from B's incubation period):

1. Giant boobs already! What the what? My bra cups be runneth over and I got a long way to go. I'm NOT interested in maternity shopping this go round, so these puppies are going to continue to squeeze in as long as possible. Don't think the husband will mind.

2. Boogers! That's right, I admit it. Anyone else suddenly have crazy boogs EVERY MORNING with only one way to resolve the problem? The icky way. Started with Bridget, slowed down a bit after her birth but never totally went back to the way it was, and has come back with a vengeance this time. Not cool. Anyone I've complained to tells me to deal because they've dealt with nose goblins their whole life. Guess I'll consider myself lucky for the first 27 years of life.

3. Pelvic PAIN! This is serious pain, y'all. Extreme soreness in the groin region that apparently stays the whole pregnancy. Again, NOT COOL. I read up on it and it's totally a thing. A normal thing. Especially in subsequent pregnancies. I'm sure Jonathan is sick of me reminding him of the crazy owies. The snoogle tries to help...it tries.

4. No cravings too extreme. Yeah! I'd better finish this post so I can dig in on that slice of key like pie I just went and sought out :).

5. I have little interest in preparing for this little dude. Mostly due to the fact that I know what he needs most are already here...attached to my chest. Now just to get some diapers and a few outfits. A room and bedding would be nice, I guess. And a double stroller. Swing. Ugh. No interest in that stuff. No super designer Mommy this time, I fear. Good thing a boy is coming! :)