A Josephine Story...FINALLY!

It's about time, huh? We are finally settling in to life with a newborn and almost 4 year old. You wouldn't believe all you forget about newborns in almost 4 years! :o) Enough of this junk, away we go...

If I had to rate Delnor on a scale from 1-10 with 10 being the best, I would give them a 57! The care that we all received (including Scott, Tanner and visitors) was beyond my wildest expectations. The medical staff was amazing and our room (and bathroom that I made EVERYONE go see) were just as gorgeous, if not more, than on the tour.

We had to arrive at a bright and early 5:30 a.m. on Monday, July 21, 2008. Due to our hour drive to the hospital we had to be up at 4:00 a.m. and out the door by 4:30 a.m. I didn't think either of us would sleep a wink the night before but we surprisingly both slept blissfully.

I don't remember what we talked about during our drive that morning, and honstely I don't even remember most of our drive. I do remember Mike & Mike being on satellite radio and that I was tired but excited.

We arrived at Delnor and were greeted with big smiles and a "WELCOME!" as we were led into a room that would begin as my "prep" room and end as my "recovery" room. Thankfully this time it only took 3 sticks to get my IV in and the little over 2 hour wait (We had to wait for another bag of saline the pharmacy was late delivering.) went by in a flash. Before I knew it the nurse was telling Scott he needed to change into his scrubs (Poo-poo to the paper gown St. Alexius provided when Tanner was born!) and Dr. Newman and the anesthesiologist were in talking with us. (I didn't have the same anesthesiologist that I met with earlier but this one was as equally lovely!)

The panic then set in over the spinal I was about to receive and I started bawling. Scott asked what was wrong and I told him that I was naive when Tanner was born but I knew what to expect this time and I was scared. After much reassurance from Scott and a nurse telling me it was time to go I snapped out of it.

In many episodes of "A Baby Story" you see a dramatic long walk down a sterile hallway to the Operating Room. The mom-to-be looks back and gives a small wave to her hubby before going in. That didn't happen. My trip to the O.R. was about 3 steps as it was the room next door! SNORT!

The room was freezing and I commented on the lack of music. Disco music was playing when Tanner was born. I was introduced to everyone in the room and my best friend immediately became the nurse anesthetist. She was 67, had no interest in retiring, and was the most amazing person! She walked me through my spinal that I was so deathly afraid of and made sure to concentrate only on me as if I was the most important person on the planet. My spinal, by the way, was OUTSTANDING! I didn't feel a thing while they were administering it.

Unfortunately nausea from the spinal kicked in but fortunately the anesthesiologist was well prepared and all over it. I guess the lack of color in my face and gallons of sweat I was producing gave me away. So much for the makeup I put on that morning! My nurse anesthetist spent a good 15 minutes having to de-fog my glasses over and over. The cold of the O.R. and my nauseated sweating weren't a good combo for my specs. :o)

After it was established that I was all numbed up, Dr. Newman and Dr. Postlewaite (LOVE THEM!) came in and I mentioned that I felt "very exposed." They laughed and confirmed that indeed I was, "very exposed." They asked for someone to get Scott and we were on our way!

Again, the nurse anesthetist talked us through the entire c-section and one of my favorite moments was my doctors announcing that Josephine had tons of hair to which I responded, "She better! My heartburn has been HELL!" The next thing I knew she was out, crying and everyone was saying how big and perfect she was. I immediately asked if she really was a girl which made everyone laugh again. I got a quick glance of her perfection and a small kiss before they took her off to be weighed, cleaned and all the other good stuff they do. I couldn't believe that once again, we were blessed with another gorgeous little one!

Scott went off to be with Josie while I was being put back together. When he came back and announced that she was 9 pounds 2 ounces I was flabbergasted! Scott and I had bet earlier on her weight. I guessed 8½ pounds and he guessed over 9. He obviously won.

As sad as I was to see Cathy, the nurse anesthetist leave me, my recovery nurse was just as lovely and the sponge bath and toothbrushing were much welcomed after sweating what felt like buckets.

I was then transferred to my room (I don't remember this or a conversation that I supposedly had with Scott about buying someone a present. HA!) that would be my home away from home until we were discharged on Thursday. As much as I missed all of the attention and fabulous amenities, it was nice for us girls to go home with the boys.

We cannot thank everyone who visited, sent flowers, gifts and food enough! My intention was to take a picture with each visitor holding Josie, yeah...that obviously didn't happen! We had non-stop guests and enjoyed every second! We especially enjoyed the cookie bouquet and chocolate covered strawberries from Edible Arrangements! Oh, and how could I forget the cupcakes and Cold Stone ice cream?!?! It is a miracle that I lost any weight! It had to have been all of the outstanding hospital ice that flushed all of the calories I consumed right out of me. I still crave that dang ice! It was made to perfection!

We have all had to adjust but Josie has been outstanding! She goes to bed at 9:00 p.m., wakes at 2:30 a.m. and sleeps until 7:30 a.m. Yes, you read that correctly, she wakes only ONCE! (Knocking on wood so I don't jinx us by putting that bit of info in writing.) She only cries when she needs her diaper changed or to be fed and she has zero interest in a binky. In short, she is completely opposite of Tanner when he was her age. :o) I joke and say that God is showing me mercy with this one because of Tanner's colic. :o)

While there are not nearly enough hours in the day or hands on my body now that Scott has gone back to work, the past 3 weeks have flown by! Josie had her 1 week appointment where she weighed in at a whopping 9 pounds 8 ounces (When we left the hospital she was 8 pounds 13 ounces.) and was showing fantastic head control and strength. We also swear she has been smiling since Day 1. Yes, she is already on her way to Harvard! :o)

Tanner is adjusting much better than I anticipated. He has his "I love her!" days and his "Take her back to Delnor!" days. Thankfully he likes her on more days than not and is a good helper. If all continues to go this well, Scott will actually get the 3rd child he so desperately wants in 2010. But don't tell him that!

I can't believe this part of our "Journey to Josephine" is over. It feels like it took so long to get here and it was over in the blink of an eye.

143 posts to read and still no birth story!

Yeah, I know I promised a birth story and you still haven't seen it. I swear she actually was born! :o)

Since you have been waiting so long I will make it good.

Things are so much different at our house with an infant and almost 4 year old. We have our GREAT days and our not-so-great days but no complaints will be heard from me.

Once Josie's birth story is up I invite you to continue our journey with Booger Jake and Bootsie Marie (I hope they don't go to school telling people that is their names!) at our family blog. Bookmark it! www.tannerandjosie.blogspot.com.

A Josie Story

I promise I will get her birth story done this week. I snuck down to the basement to write it up when she started to cry and I was summonsed upstairs as Scott was getting Tanner down for a nap.

I have a baby in one arm and am typing with the other as you read, but I wouldn't have it any other way!

The story will (should) be up tonight!

To Alison, Alison, Farah & Mel...

You girls rock my world!!! We got home from my first day out of the house to find a big box with the words "Baby Shower In A Box" on it.

Words cannot express how much I appreciate your support and friendship throughout this journey to Josie. You girls have been such a lifeline and I love each and every one of you.

The gifts were so thoughtful and I cannot wait to take pics of Josie in the cute clothes!!!

(Alison M., thank you so much for being such a wonderful friend and putting this together for us.)

Lather, Rinse, Repeat...

That is the mode we are in at our house right now. I wouldn't ask for anything else though!

I will get to Josie's birth story this week. Getting to our computer in the basement hasn't been the easiest after my c-section and technically, I am not even supposed to be going up and down stairs until after tomorrow. Please let our lap top work upstairs soon!

New pictures are up, go and enjoy!

1st Professiomal Pics

Boy have things changed in almost 4 years! Tanner has the typical "hospital pic", but Princess Josie was treated to her first professional photo session today. Apparently many hospitals are are going more "couture" with their photos and Delnor is one of them!

http://www.bellababyphotography.com/

click on "website"
click on "client"
enter password:jt1636

Here is another non-professional pic courtesy of Great-Aunt Paula.

A sneaky-peek to tide y'all over...

Eviction Papers have been Served! :o)

It is official, I had my last appointment which was with Anesthesiology, am wearing my armband, and am on for Monday at 7:30 a.m.

This was a fairly odd appointment to begin with but ended on a high note.

I had to have a MRSA swab, which is basically two HUGE q-tips that you have to stick up one nostral and give them a whirl. Lovely vision, eh? When I asked how far up my nostral they needed to go the tech said until your eyes water. GOOD TIMES! Then the vampire in her came out and she drew my blood in case a blood tranfusion was needed. I know why she doesn't work in the lab...holy hurting! Then she proceeded to yap my ear off about her kids while waiting for the Anestheseologist to come in. Thankfully he saved the day with his lovely demeaner and cutie-cuteness because this was all going downhill...FAST!

I have decided to have another spinal instead of an epidural, because I am a big baby and the size of the epidural needle scared the bejesus out of me. I am a wuss, get over it.

So I am tagged with my wristband (which I am trying to figure out how I will explain to the mani/pedi tech tomorrow) and ready to GO!

As Scott reminded me this morning, only 72 more hours or as I said to him, only 3 more uncomfortable sleeping nights. :o)

Still here...

Unless I can will my body into labor between now and Sunday, Josie will officially be born on Monday, July 21, 2008.

Yesterday, the big guns (Scotty) joined me at my last appointment to plead my (our) case to Dr. Newman to try to get him to deliver me early...we got a big, fat, still pregnant, NOPE!

I tried telling Dr. Newman that our marriage depended on it and he just laughed. I am glad one of the three of us was laughing! ;o) Poor Scotty's throat was jumped down as he said to me, "I know how you are feeling" the other night when I was in sheer misery from my aching crotch, sides and the inability to breathe. I told him he will never get to know this pain and I wish he could be me for one day, as I burst into tears. We are both lucky we are so tolerant of each other. :o)

Some girlfriends felt bad for me and treated me to The Cheesecake Factory today for a lunchy-lunch although I couldn't really enjoy it because my right side was in such agony. I am sure the people sitting next to us thought I was in labor because I had to keep getting up and rubbing my side. What a lovely sight! :o(

Pray for me, think of me, rub your lucky rabbit's foot, rub a Buddah Belly (just make sure it isn't mine!). I need anything I can get to make it through these last 3½ days.

The final countdown.

This is our last week as a family of 3. I caught myself a little off guard yesterday when I told Tanner that in a week he will be a big brother. He retorted with, “I want to be a big brother NOW!” Amen to that! It is hard to believe this is almost over though. Don’t tell Scott but this could be the last time that I am ever pregnant.

I am experiencing end of the road morning sickness. Ahhhh, the memories! Oh yeah, close your eyes if you are easily offended or move along quickly, and my woobies (Thanks Mel and Alison for the word that always cracks me up.) are achy and leaking. My sister, Scott and I are keeping our fingers crossed for the ability to breastfeed this time around. I am not holding my breath but bigger miracles have occurred in this world.

This is Tanner’s last weekend as an only child so we are trying to plan fun things for all of us to do. On the top of his list is the new Chuck E. Cheese not too far from our house. This time I won’t be required to climb up into the tubes and slide down the slide with him. :o)

One more doctor’s appointment and a meeting with anesthesia left. YIKES!

Hello Old Friend and Calculations

Once again, due to my swelling and a slightly elevated blood pressure I win the wonderful prize of a 24 hour urine catch and more blood work! A round of applause, please! I think this is round 3. If anything comes back abnormal, Josie will be here earlier than expected but we won’t know anything until next week.

I am not disappointed in the least with this as every day is getting harder and harder on my body. Although, I look back and realize that it was a journey just getting pregnant again so why should the end be any easier? And why the heck should I be complaining?

I was asked the other day if I was excited that I was having a girl. I told them “Yes, but she could have been a boy, a monkey or a volleyball and I would be equally excited because there was a point in time where I didn’t know if I would be here again” and ended the conversation there. I love the crazy looks I get when I do that.

I cannot deny that I am over the moon about having a girl this time. We will have an even team at our house. Daddy, Tanner and Roeni on the boy’s side and Momma, Josie and Ruthie on the girl’s side. :o) Every day I think to myself, would I have gotten the girl I wanted so badly if I would have gotten pregnant when I wanted to? Just something I will probably ponder the rest of my life!

As for the calculations I mentioned in my title:

1 almost 38 week pregnant woman + 1 NASCAR event in Joliet + 1 run to try to avoid a HORRIFIC storm that brewing that we eventually got caught in because we couldn’t find our car + 1 tent in a parking lot that we were seeking shelter under that had to be held down due to the wind by one Daddy holding a 40 pound upset and cold toddler and one VERY pregnant Momma trying not to cry in front of her toddler or drown her $600 camera + 1 aching crotch and sides of the almost 38 week pregnant woman + 1 urinary accident in said pregnant woman’s pants because she drank way too many liquids, had to run like hell, and was being ambushed by cold rain DOES NOT EQUAL going into labor early.

I thought for sure SOMETHING would happen after all of that! I can laugh now but it was traumatic for both Tanner and I at the time, thankfully Daddy held us all together. :o)

Jill Tice Book of World Records

As of 10:40 a.m. yesterday, this is the longest I have been pregnant. :o) Tanner was born at exactly 37 weeks at 10:39 a.m. Being up and uncomfortable at 4:30 a.m. yesterday morning and not sleeping well again last night makes me wish I would have matched or beat that time.

I would like to think I have done fairly well this pregnancy but it is now taking its toll on me. Since I have technically never been in labor, I have zero clue if I am contracting or just plain VERY uncomfortable. I guess that is a question for the doctor on Wednesday.

I hate to think I am trying to wish this over especially since it took us so long to even get here (and we still have most of our list to finish before Josie arrives) but I am officially ready to sleep on my belly again and lay on my back and not need to pass out! Yep, it happened again yesterday while I was on the ultrasound table. There is some big fancy name for what is happening but all I remember from her description is that my aorta was being cut off (or something to that nature) and that was all I needed to know!

I did pack most of my hospital bag. I still have a couple of items to throw in there but nothing that Scott couldn’t go buy if I needed him to. Heck, he had to go buy my whole bag last time!

This week is going to consist of washing 0-3 month baby clothes, bibs, socks, crib bedding, etc… and my mom and I plan on making some cute burp clothes out of cloth diapers. Wait until you see the bedding she made for our bassinet and moses basket! ADORABLE!

Are we there yet???

Alright, I am at that point. I have been cruising along until recently. I actually broke down the other night when I just couldn’t get comfortable no matter what I did. My sides were killing me, I couldn't breathe, my calf still hurt from the Charlie Horse I woke up with over the weekend, and my crotch hurts so badly that I yelp whenever I get up from sitting or laying down. (My friend Alison is probably laughing at my whining right now! Remember, this will be you sooner than you think!)

Scott, trying to be helpful, reminded me that it is all for the little girl that I wanted so badly. I could have skipped the pep-talk. :o)

2 weeks, 3 days, and 16½ hours…but who is counting?

Whoppers are not just at BK anymore!

I am carrying one in my belly! No, I didn’t make a BK run nor is it on my list of things that I am craving, heck, could I even get a whole Whopper to pass through my lap band? Let’s get focused here…

Josie is weighing in at a hefty 6 pounds 15 ounces and measuring a week and a half ahead as of today’s growth scan. No wonder I am super uncomfortable. If you remember waaaaaaaaay back when Tanner was born he was 37 weeks and 6 pounds 15 ounces on the day of his birth. Based on this calculation we are expecting her to weigh any where from 8½-9 pounds on the 21st. Good thing we didn’t get very many newborn sized clothes!

Other than that fun news, I remembered today that I was officially on bed rest by now when I was pregnant with Tanner, now if I can just make it past 37 weeks! :o)

3 weeks and 5 more appointments left…

Ice, Ice, Baby!

Do you have that song in your head now? :o)

My latest and greatest craving. ICE! I cannot get enough ice water, the emphasis on “ice.” Remember earlier in my pregnancy when I told you I was having to choke it down with a lemon? How things have changed!

I was on a mission to find the perfect ice and I believe it has been found. Sam’s Club Fountain Drink ice. Please do not email me or comment about fecal matter being found in ice machines, I don’t need to hear it. :o) Sam’s Club has the most perfect round little nuggets of ice. Perfection in my book. Rumor has it the Pilot gas station in town offers the same kind, I need to investigate as I could go there every day to satisfy my craving verses a bi-weekly trip to Sam’s.

I am down to 3 BPP appointments and 3 OB appointments. 3 weeks! Guess what? Nothing has been taken off of our list that needs to be done, it if Friday, and we have a full weekend of family events. I promised Scott I would at least get my hospital bag packed and set aside just in case anything were to happen.

Are you still singing, “Ice, Ice, Baby?”

YAHTZEE!

I really should have bought a lottery ticket yesterday; the moons were all in aligning in my world.

First off, I have to give a big shout out to two friends of mine who recently found out that they are expecting their first child and I am pretty sure their due dates are only a day apart! Yea to Alison and Mel! Congratulations, girls! I am overjoyed for both of you!!!

Yesterday’s BPP appointment started out on a sour note. They were running behind and I had things to do and people to see and was in no “8 month pregnant” mood to be waiting. They finally got me in and strapped to the monitors when my lovely ultrasound tech explained that they were testing a new ultrasound machine that they were thinking of purchasing and she wanted to know if it was OK if they tried it out on me. I was already 40 minutes behind so I told her that would be fine. Little did I know that decision would TOTALLY make up for them running so far behind in my book.

Before I go on to the good stuff I have to tell you that I almost passed out on the table. Literally, people. I was lying on my back and they were looking at Josie when I started getting really sweaty, nauseated and blurry vision. I was freaking out internally trying to decide if I would say anything (DUH on my part!) when I finally said, “Ummmm, excuse me, but I totally feel like I am going to pass out!” They quickly turned me on my left side and I immediately felt better. I was telling them how embarrassed I was and they said it happens all the time at this stage of pregnancy and I could only be embarrassed if I didn’t say anything and was passed out on the floor. :o)

Now that that little story is out of the way, they continued on showing the tech all of the new and updated features. One of the features was that the machine could make a CD of the images and video that it saved. The tech said she had never done that for someone before and the consultant said we could try it out now. The thought of the images on a CD alone made me giddy until she then turned on the 4D ultrasound!!!! HOLY MOLEY PEOPLE! There was Josie right in my face in 4D! We were all in awe and if I wouldn’t have already been embarrassed by my “almost fainting” incident I would have bawled in front of them.

Josie is ALL PROKUP from the images! Once again, will my dream be right? Remember the story of Tanner at 16 and me holding Josie and thinking she looked like me? She has the chubbiest cheeks, biggest lips and a “Prokup Nose.” I have included the images below. I also got the added bonus of a video where she is moving her little mouth. Good Lord, I still feel like I won a million dollars!

As I calmed down from the experience I was waiting for the doctor to come in and talk to me I decided to check our home voicemail to see if we had a message saying Tanner’s glasses were in, they were, Bonus #2. On our voicemail was a message from my regular doctor’s office saying they needed to talk to me but it wasn’t anything urgent or bad. You have to love how they told me it wasn’t anything bad. They obviously know me too well! :o) I called them back and they were letting me know that my c-section is officially scheduled for July 21st at 7:30 a.m. The first on the books! Bonus #3!

Could the news get any better at this point? Well, yes it could! Then I talked to my mom because my sister was hosting dinner that night as my nephews are home from Rhode Island and I asked her what she was making, she told me Fort’s (My Brother-In-Law who loves me enough to bring me the Gondola a couple of weeks ago.) Spaghetti. BONUS #4! You may wonder why this is Bonus #4. I literally just told Scott how I was craving Fort’s spaghetti and wondered if he would make me a batch. Fort is officially my favorite Brother-In-Law, I cannot deny it!

Saying Monday was a “good day” is an understatement! I think karma is making up for the car accident and all of the headaches that have followed. :o) I still have a big cheesy grin on my face!

What’s the story, Wishbone? (Props if you know what show that song belongs to.)

My crotch is killing me. There, I finally said it. KILLING ME! I told Scott I feel like a wishbone being pulled apart. Also, the reason why I have to pee as soon as I stand up is that Josie’s big ol’ melon (I have ultrasound confirmation that she does, indeed, have a big ol’ melon like her Daddy and brother!) is messing with my bladder. :o)

But on a positive note, I am hoping our luck is on its way back to “good.” All signs are pointing that way.

So this has been our last week: car accident, (Lemme tell ya, dealing with insurance has caused me more than one headache in this past week!), possibility of gall bladder issues and the on-set of pre-eclampsia again, then our beautiful gazebo that Daddy worked so hard on to have ready for our Father's Day cook-out taking flight and busting before we could even use it, Aunt Lori and Uncle Jeff getting a flat tire outside our house and Grammie Patsy missing our last step and falling on the concrete. The last 3 incidents were ALL on Father’s Day. I told Scotty that we were jinxed and everyone needs to run away, FAST!

Well, things are finally looking up. Knock on wood. Grammie was fine, we can order parts for the gazebo and fix it, insurance seems to be getting easier to deal with even though we won’t take the car in to be fixed until after the baby is born. Heck, I won’t be going anywhere so it is perfect timing! I am not sure about the tire but I am going to assume that is fine too.

The best news of all though is THANKFULLY, there is nothing wrong with my gall bladder that they could see via my blood work and all of my pre-eclampsia tests came back normal. Can you believe something associated with me is “normal?” They are going to attribute the swelling to it being so hot and humid and the fact that I am pretty darn far along in this pregnancy. I may actually make it past 37 weeks this time!

You REALLY know you are consuming way too many Tums when…

…Your 3½ year old son reminds you to “Bring your Tums!” as you are walking out the door.

QUADRUPLE SNORT! The kid cracks me up!

A Perfect 10!

Something is finally going right again at ol’ Casa de Tice! Although, I shouldn’t speak too soon because I do not have the results back from my blood work or my 24 hour urine catch so let’s all knock on wood at this moment. Sure I could call to see if they are in but I have another appointment on Thursday and well, I am just being plain chicken.

As much as I was dreading (and annoyed by) the BPP appointments it was so relaxing and I got an ultrasound so you will hear no complaints from me for the next 4 appointments. Plus, I got the bonus of having the most lovely lady perform the tests and she explained EVERYTHING while it was going on. No more waving the wand all over my belly a million times, looking in the same spot, and causing my blood pressure to go through the roof due to thinking something is wrong.

I had no clue what to expect so when I was taken to a room with a big old comfy recliner and asked to sit down and put my feet up I was quite surprised. I was hooked up to two monitors, one that measured Josie’s heartbeat and the other her movement and asked to sit there for 20-30 minutes. I could have easily fallen asleep and may just do that next time. Just when I thought the appointment was over my technician said, “Now it is time for the fun part, the ultrasound!” I was practically skipping down the hall!

The ultrasound was a test and the baby was rated on a scale. The highest and best you could get was a 10 and our little girl did just that. They measured the amniotic fluid around her, her heartbeat and her breathing. All looked fabulous and I was sent on my way.

Easy Peasy! Once again, boring = EXCELLENT! I needed another boring appointment after my last OB appointment.

On another good note, tonight is Daddy’s last class for 8 whole weeks! YEA! We have sooooooo much to do! Once again, I was in a state of panic last night due to the fact that if my tests do not come out well Josie could be here in as little as 3 weeks. Scott promised that we would make a list of what I needed for the hospital this week and go get it to make me feel better and that he can get diapers and bottles while I am in the hospital if it comes down to that.

Our list looks like this as we have done a few things:

1. Move bookshelf and CD/movie racks out of old guest room/new Tanner and Josie room and into upstairs living room or basement living room.

2. Get storage units and install in upstairs playroom so it is no longer a disaster area.

3. Set up crib with bedding. (Although this can wait because she will sleep in the bassinet for the first couple of months.)

4. Haul changing table upstairs.

5. Make sure swing and Papasan are working.

6. Wash clothes, blankets etc.

7. Touch up paint in kid’s room.

8. Make sure carrier is OK and install bases in cars.

9. Buy bottles, diapers and formula.

10. BREATHE! :o)

OK, so I guess we don’t have as much as I was thinking but Scott doesn’t like me to panic so I can get my way faster if I do. :o)

Comments?

I have been asked to turn on the "comments"portion of this blog...so comment away! But know that I can censor you. :o)

I should have picked Target.

Last night I decided to go get a pedicure to cure my “Pre-eclampsia Watch 2008” blues. It was lovely, I can’t deny. I was secretly hoping the massage they give would help reduce some of my swelling, no such luck. I just ended up with outstanding looking puffy feet. :o) There is a nail salon in our town who gives the most amazing pedi I have ever had in my life. It outranks any fancy salon any day! But let’s get back on track.

When I got home Scott discovered the doggies didn’t have enough food for breakfast and asked if I wanted to go to the store with him and Tanner. After some hemming and hawing I decided that I wanted to go. Scott knows that I need some more summer maternity pants/shorts/skirts to get me through these last weeks and suggested we go to Target. I declined saying I would rather just make a quick run to Jewel. So off to Jewel we went.

Happily talking in the car, pulling into the parking lot, when WHAMO! We get hit on my side of the SUV. As bummed as I am that the beautiful SUV now has a crunched front quarter panel, thankfully we were in a big car and not the little one. A teenage kid wasn’t looking when he was at the intersection. The first thing that came out of my mouth to Scott was, “I should have picked Target!”

A lovely witness to the accident stayed, 911 was called, the nicest policeman on the face of the earth showed up along with an ambulance for yours truly. Yeah…that wasn’t embarrassing! (insert sarcasm) Apparently when you are pregnant and involved in an accident, it is protocol. Tanner happily chatted up everyone about the accident while I was being checked out. Who needs a witness when you have a 3½ year old!?!

My blood pressure was high (135/95) but the EMT joked and said that everyone’s blood pressure usually goes up after an accident. He asked how I was feeling and I told him just fine and that I didn’t want to go to the hospital if I didn’t have to. He told me it was up to me but suggested I call my doctor to let him know what happened which I did this morning. My doctor left it up to me whether or not I felt like I needed to come in and I told him Josie was moving around and that I felt fine and would call if anything changed.

Thankfully the only thing hurt was our car and that can be fixed, hopefully soon!

Next time, I am picking Target!

Déjà vu?

Why would I think that the remainder of this pregnancy would actually be easy?!?!?! Today’s OB appointment didn’t go as well as all of the others have.

I was up 5 pounds (in ONE week) and very swollen today. I am trying to think good thoughts and blame it on the heat and humidity. I will now be engaging in yet another 24 hour urine catch to check for signs of protein. I should have just called this post “Pre-eclampsia Watch 2008.” Thankfully my blood pressure was still normal and I have not had any headaches or vision changes.

BUT, I have had issues with a “stitch” in my right side. I get it every once in a while and that has earned me a blood draw to check my gallbladder. Criminy!

Not only do I have a weekly BPP but now also a weekly regular OB appointment. GOOD TIMES!

Two Fairy Godmothers

Josie’s Godparents have been picked and we are doing something untraditional. Instead of a Godmother and a Godfather we have picked two Godmothers, my sisters, Barb and Julie. Much like when we got married, they were both my matrons-of-honor. :o)

They have both been extremely supportive of us throughout our journey (and in general) and we are so excited that they have accepted!

Yabba Dabba Do!

After setting up and working our family garage sale this past weekend I was Fred Flintstone from the (c)ankles down! Yep, I officially had “cankles!” My feet were so swollen that even my Crocs were tight! I could have given Papa Bill a run for his money when he was retaining water in his feet last year. What made me think having a family garage sale at almost 33 weeks pregnant was a good idea? (See previous post on how my brain is not functioning properly.) :o)

I will tell you that the garage sale was not only worth it for the money but my all time favorite brother-in-law proved how much he loves me by bringing me a Torpedo from La Gondola! Remember this craving? Yeah, it never went away and he indulged me. I LOVE YOU, FORT!

P.S. HAHAHAHAHAHA! I just read the comment on my pregnancy ticker for this week! I guess I am right on schedule. :o)

How this pregnant woman’s brain works or doesn't work.

I forgot (imagine that!) to tell you yesterday that Josie is head down and her knee and foot are what have been causing everything on the right side of my body to say, “WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT?!?!?!” when she kicks.

My mind has been playing games with me lately. Ridiculous games. I REALLY need to quit watching any kind of crime shows, particularly the ones where a pregnant woman gets followed or set up so someone can kill her and steal her baby. Scott famous line has been used many times, “No wonder you are having nightmares, look at the shows you watch before you go to bed!” I was stopped at a gas station about a month ago by some strange kid who asked if I had any spare change for gas and I was desperately trying to figure out what to knock him out with when he approached me. Since I have been starting to show (which feels like it happened overnight this time) I have been finding myself getting freaked out if a car follows me for too long or if someone in a parking lot walks too closely to me. So freaked out that I can feel my heart start to race and the flight or fight response kicks in. Yes, I am being a freak, but at least I can admit to it. :o)

Between my crazy dreams and irrational fears I am ready for my hormones to level out.

I would like to thank my previous pre-eclampsia and lap band for this honor…

I think I jinxed myself when I said that I would only have about 6 doctor’s appointments left. Let’s make that 12 appointments now! And just when I thought life couldn’t get any busier. Can I please get 15 more hours in the day?!?!?!?!

I had what I thought would be my last high risk OB appointment and ultrasound today and while everything looked great, due to my previous bout with pre-eclampsia and my lap band I have earned 6 fun filled biophysical profile (BPP) appointments and one more growth scan. YIPPEE! Scott had to remind me that I should be happy that my doctor’s care so much. Think of me every Monday starting on the 16th of this month.

Although the BPP appointment announcement was a bummer everything else was fantastic. Josie is weighing in at 5 pounds and the ultrasound tech said she saw HAIR on her head! With all of the heartburn I have been suffering from, she better be right! And of course, her noggin is measuring in 2 weeks ahead. She and Tanner get that from their Dad! The tech tried to get a good facial picture of her but she had her hand in front of her face. HRMPH!

LET ME OUT!

I kid you not, Josie is kicking so hard that I actually bent over in pain twice so far today. I swear she is trying to escape early.

The right side of my belly has been jumping out so much that I am super anxious to see which of her body parts is on that side at Thursday's ultrasound.

She could be kicking up a storm but the minute Scott puts his hand on my belly she will stop and be quiet. It cracks us both up. Tanner still won't let me put his hand on my belly but he knows she is in there and tells us that she is getting so big and that my belly is getting big. THANKS, TANNER! :o)

Leg cramps, leg cramps go away, don’t come back another day!

Good Lordy! Is it sad that I have now come to expect to be jolted awake in the middle of the night by a Charlie Horse? Although I have to admit I find much humor in the fact that when I get one and wake up screaming, it scares the junk out of Scott so he gets to share in my misery. SNORT! (I was grinning from ear to ear and snickering to myself as I just typed that.) :o)

Today’s second topic is going to be sedan verses crossover. Scott puts more miles on our cars than I do in a week so we have swapped due to horrendous gas prices. He drives the little car and leaves me the big one.

Let me start out by saying, I ADORE our crossover. I *heart* everything about it…AFTER I get in. I cannot imagine what a sight I am trying to get in with my big ol’ belly! I have to be quite the show. You know when you see someone who is heavy getting into a tall car and the driver’s side rocks, I am sure that is me now! Thankfully Tanner is old enough that he can get in and out of his seat by himself and all I have to do is buckle him in because that would be an even funnier show.

As much as I used to complain that I didn’t get to drive the “fancy car” as often as I would have liked to, I miss the pregnancy comfort of my sedan.

I got to officially meet another doctor in the practice that will be delivering Josie. I have no clue how I am so fortunate to find such lovely doctors in all fields of practice. We had met this last doctor in passing in the hallway when I was diagnosed as anovulatory and he totally remembered me and especially Tanner. (I have said this in the past but we swear Tanner is the reason why we get such good service everywhere! Everyone remembers him and his cute glasses!) He made sure I knew that I was one of their easiest patients, looked great for being almost 32 weeks and everything is moving along wonderfully. I LOVE him! I always slightly panic when they get ready to take my blood pressure but it was a perfect 120/60. I always say this but I will say it again and again, this is SO much different than last time!

Next week is our last high risk ultrasound and then the following week brings another doctor’s appointment. Then Daddy is done with his current class and all the work we haven’t done yet begins! Can you tell I am obsessing over not having everything finished yet? :o)

Plain ol’ catch up.

I could write everyday but cannot seem to find the time, then I forget half of the things I want to write about. If this post goes in 20 different directions, just know that is how my mind is working these days. :o)

Barb in Canada. There aren’t enough kind words about this woman who technically doesn’t even know me but has followed Tanner growing up, my weight loss journey and now our second pregnancy. She handmade the most ADORABLE dress in my favorite color combination, pink and brown, for little Princess Josie. I need to post a picture of it and cannot wait to photograph Josie in it! Thank you, Barb, from the bottom of my heart. You truly have a gift!

Our 5 minutes of fame. Last weekend we had the privilege of hanging out with some new friends from Nebraska, Alison and Joey (GO HUSKERS!), at Navy Pier. While we were waiting for them to arrive I was asked to be interviewed by Channel 5 News on why we decided to stay in town for Memorial Day Weekend. Gas prices, DUH! Sadly the first words out of my mouth to the camera man were, “I’m pregnant, can you make me look thin for the camera?” In which Scott added, “I’m pregnant too, what can you do for me?” :o) I didn’t get to see the segment but they took extra footage of Booger. Josie, you only have 10 more minutes of fame left as 5 were used up in my belly. :o)

Preparations. Yeah, we are no further along. :o) I am patiently waiting for Scott’s class to end, our family garage sale to be over, graduation and birthday parties to pass…We honestly never have a free weekend. After Father’s Day I am putting my foot down and saying “NO MORE!” until we either finish our list or Josie is born, whichever comes first. If it were a bunch of small projects I would be all over them, but Scott yells when I pick up anything that weighs more than Tanner.

Appointment countdown. If my calculations are correct, which we all know they won’t be, I should have 6 doctor appointments left before my c-section, that doesn’t include another high risk ultrasound next week which will probably be our last sneaky-peek at Josie until she is born.

Sleeping. What is that? I have hit the point where as exhausted as I am, I REALLY dread going to bed. The cramps, heartburn and hurting hips send me to the recliner or couch every night (morning) around 4:00 a.m. There have been a few mornings where Scott has been shocked to see me still sleeping next to him but those are getting far and few between. Although I am proud to report that this is hitting far later than it did the first time around.

General. I and starting to waddle, can’t bend down for crap or breathe if I am sitting on the floor but all is good!

2 Ton Judy with the Big Fat Booty!

(No offense to anyone named Judy who is heavy.)

Whoa, Nelly! I caught a glimpse of myself at my sister’s house on Monday and the words, “HOLY CRAP!” went through my head. Lord have mercy, I am one pregnant Momma! Thank you again to friends and family for telling me I look great. Your payments should be arriving shortly in the mail. :o)

I think I am finally starting to slow down. If I over do it, I REALLY end up paying for it now. How do 7-8 month pregnant women run 5K and marathons? I was picking up Tanner’s toys one afternoon and couldn’t get back up! HA! I ended up shuffling around the living room on my knees then having to use the chair to help me up! Oh yeah, and add in the grunting. Tanner looked at me like I was nuts!

If Josie is half as active outside the womb as she is in, we are going to be in a heap of hurt. She is throwing a party in there some days. I have had to discipline her a few times for kicking me straight in my bladder. Have I mentioned how I have hit the point where every time I stand up I have to pee?

No complaints through all of this though, just the facts. Considering I didn’t know if I would ever be pregnant again last September/October I am finding the humor in all of this and loving every second.

Boring = Excellent!

Other than hearing Princess Josie’s heartbeat, my appointment yesterday was nothing to write about. Boring, with a capital B! But, the boring appointments are the best ones!

As part of usual protocol, even though I am having a repeat c-section, I met with another member of my doctor’s group. She was simply lovely. When my doctor retires, I will most likely continue with her. At my next appointment I will officially meet another and I am certain I will like him too. We once ran into him when I was diagnosed as anovulatory and he was so friendly and fabulous with all of us, especially Tanner.

I have hit the point where I now have appointments every two weeks and before I know it it will be every week! I remember waaaaaaaaaaaaay back in November and December thinking July 2008 was soooooooooooooo far away and here we almost are! So scary and so exciting all in one.

Craving...

MUST.HAVE.AVANTI'S!!!!

A gondola to be exact. Add the price of gas to the cost of the sandwich and I figure it would be a $35 meal.

T-Minus 9 weeks and 6 days, but who is counting? :o)

We are (technically) into single digit weeks left before Josie makes her MUCH ANTICIPATED appearance!

Scotty commented last week how I am still going strong much later in this pregnancy than last time. I can tell when I over-do it though. I end up with somewhat swollen feet and being super stiff for a day and walk like Frankenstein (according to Scott) when I first get going. :o) But I am happy to report no sciatica, my rings STILL fit although they are getting a bit tighter, and my feet are more like Pebbles or Bam-Bam instead of Fred or Barney. After putting that in writing, let’s all knock on wood.

We haven’t made any more progress in the “getting ready for Josie” department and that caused me to have a bit of a breakdown over the weekend. Out of the blue I was upset and saying how nothing was ready, including us! I was frantically talking about not having any diapers for her yet, how we are on “easy street” with Tanner and how I don’t even remember how to make a bottle! Looking back at my episode I can laugh because I know it all will come back to me, but GOOD LORD, it feels like forever since we have had a baby in the house! That reminds me, must add “Buy Bottles” to my ever growing list!

I have another doctor’s appointment tomorrow and another high-risk ultrasound in 2½ weeks thanks to my pre-eclampsia the first time around. Although you know I will never complain about an ultrasound!

Happy Early Mother’s Day to ME!

I got two early Mother’s Day treats this past week. The first was a trip to the outlets with the added bonus of Scott not complaining about how much I bought for the kids. :o) The second was my appointment with Dr. Dreamy. He is still super dreamy and as nice as nice can be. I really want to believe he has some deep dark secret that would flaw him.

The outlets were so much fun! Girl clothes RAWK! I asked Scotty’s opinion on something that I picked out and his response was, “I am much better with little boy’s clothes.” I had to burst out laughing! He has done a good job picking out clothes for Tanner over the years though. My favorite words that came out of Daddy’s mouth while shopping for both kids, “Whatever you want, Momma.” :o)

I have had a lot of family and friends ask how my lap band has been affecting my pregnancy and my answer has always been, “It hasn’t.” I just eat more often that I normally would. I had a little bit of port pain a few months back from my expanding belly but that seems to have gone away and Dr. Dreamy wasn’t a bit concerned when I told him about it. I finally had a little bit of my fill taken out as I hadn’t gained a single pound this past month and I could tell my band was getting tighter as Josie expands higher up into my belly. I have noticed it is easier to eat but I am still eating the same amount. I guess after eating like a bird for 2½ years, it sticks with you.

Dr. Dreamy was just too cute when he took out some of the saline from my band. As soon as I lifted up my shirt so he could find my port he was poking around my belly saying, “Hi, Baby!” When I told him it was a girl he had the biggest grin on his face and said “HOW PERFECT! A boy and a girl!” I couldn’t agree more…how perfect!

We spoke about losing the weight again after Josie was born and he said I should have no problem as the band is a wonderful tool in that regard. He will just tighten me back up 3 weeks after she is born and I will be back on my way. He also reminded me of how far I have come and commented on how terrific I look even though I have gained about 30 pounds. I am still almost 100 pounds less than when I delivered Tanner so I have NOTHING to complain about. I still can’t believe how “pregnant” I look, you cannot miss my belly or overlook it thinking I am just really heavy like last time.

Overall he was very pleased with how my pregnancy weight is progressing and we have a game plan to get back into my size 8 skinny jeans.

Welcome to the Third Trimester!

Well, I was welcomed into the 3rd trimester with a lovely diagnosis of bronchitis. GOOD TIMES! Tanner had been sick the week before but I figured I would escape it. Let’s all laugh out loud together. Unfortunately there is nothing I can do but ride it out and use two inhalers. The recliner has been my sleeping friend for the past couple of nights. Roeni and Tanner have gladly kept Scott company and taken my spot in our bed. Our family doctor told me if it gets worse Scott is to take me to the emergency room. I feel like I am on the upswing so I am hopeful this will pass soon. Josie is still as active as ever so hopefully this isn’t affecting her too much.

Talk about ripping the high of passing my gestational diabetes test right out from underneath me! :o)

I cannot believe I am in the home stretch! Less than 3 months, people! Once Scott is done with his current class he is taking an 8 week semester off and we plan on getting our list finished. Pathetically I believe we had everything done by now when I was pregnant with Tanner. I think it was around this time that Scott was washing/folding Tanner’s baby clothes and commenting about how he couldn’t believe someone so small would soon be in our house and was laughing at how tiny baby socks were!

As I have been inching towards my last trimester I am officially getting uncomfortable. The almost 30 extra pounds I am carrying has totally affected me. How the heck did I carry an extra 115 pounds back in 2005?

On a TMI note, since when is my bladder so weak? The past week of coughing has caused me to go through 2-3 pairs of underwear a day. Lovely, I know! At least I don’t have an aching crotch yet. Have no fear, it is coming and I will be sure to share all the details yet once again. :o)

Won’t be getting my drink on again!

I PASSED! I PASSED! I PASSED! No more nasty super-sugary orange carbonated drink for ME! (No, that is not another earthquake in Illinois, it is just my pregnant, rotund, body jumping for joy!)

I can either a.) Thank God for answering my prayers while trying to keep the drink down during the 1 hour wait before they can draw your blood or b.) Thank my weight loss. I think I will thank God for my weight loss. :o)

Other good news is that we are moving along quite nicely with the playroom and nursery. We already have Tanner’s bed set up and an idea of where we will place the crib and changing table. Since Josie will sleep in her bassinet or Moses Basket in our room for the first 1-2 months, Ruthie is Tanner’s official roommate right now. The upstairs playroom is a disaster because Tanner has actually been using it instead of dragging all of his toys from the basement playroom into our living room. We have opted to keep the colors of both rooms the same and just do some touch ups on the walls and ceilings. All that is left to do is:

1. Clean the carpeting in the entire house.
2. Touch up the paint in both rooms.
3. Paint a chalk board area in the play room.
4. Move and install the CD towers to the living room.
5. Move and install the existing bookshelf to the playroom and buy an additional one to install. The kids have massive amounts of books!
6. Buy the rest of Tanner’s Transformer bedding.
7. Measure the kid’s closet for the new shelving and hanging units and install them both without killing each other.
8. A little decorating here and there in both rooms.

It doesn’t look like much but I guarantee you we will be down to the wire. That seems to be how we roll.

This Momma refuses to drive a mini-van, doesn’t wear maternity shirts that tie in the back and…

…will NOT fail her 1 hour gestational diabetes test! Yep, it is that time once again. The dreaded glucose test. This time with an added twist, a lap band!

Have I mentioned how carbonated beverages do not sit well with my band let alone at 6:30 a.m.??? Yeah, it wasn’t pretty but I got that foul orange drink down. Barely. I was supposed to drink the whole bottle in 5 minutes, let’s all take a moment to laugh! It took me about 15 and that was while I was standing up, walking around and jumping up and down to get gravity to help me out. I am sure the girls in the lab at Delnor will have good stories to tell tonight. I have no clue how I held it down because, believe me, I thought it was coming up a few times, but I survived. Oh, and lets add in the fact that I always need to be poked several times to get a vein, including at least once on the top of my hand. I can thank my dad for the "great" veins I inherited from him. :o)

Now I am in the dreaded 48-72 hour wait for the results and still feel ill from all of that sugar first thing in the morning on an empty stomach.

I am not even thinking about the 3 hour test because as I said in the beginning of this post, I will NOT fail the 1 hour test. (Y’all can take a moment to laugh again, this time behind my back!) :o)

Holy Kicking, Batman and other musings.

Josie seems to be VERY active lately. Her favorite activity, kicking me in the bladder. I am at the point where you can see the kicks through my clothes which I adore watching. Tanner has no interest in feeling a kick but I bet if I tell him it is a puppy doing the kicking he would. :o)

My sleeping has gotten better thanks to the wedge we bought. I thought a pregnancy pillow would do the trick but NOPE! The wedge RAWKS! It provides my belly with much needed support without being too mushy and I only get up once a night now and that is just to go to the bathroom. No more tossing and turning to get comfortable, I just tuck the wedge in under my belly and fall back to sleep. Sweet relief!

Scott provided me with a lovely "compliment" the other day in the form of, "Look at your belly, IT IS HUGE!" Which he quickly followed up with, "In a good way!" Ummm, honey, did you not see the pic you took of me WEEKS AGO WHEN I HAD A HUGE BELLY??? I read that you tend to "pop" earlier in your second pregnancy, but this is crazy. Just call me Buddah and rub my belly for good luck.

I am measuring on target so I honestly just think that I was so heavy when I was pregnant with Tanner that my now smaller frame is causing me to think I am bigger than I should be. But lemme tell ya, there is NO MISTAKING that I am pregnant! :o) You may think this sounds like I am complaining but I love, love, love it! I don't even mind the ever rapidly rising scale anymore.

Oh the madness! No guac mentioned in this post! :o)

When I was pregnant with Tanner I had a dream that he was about 16, I have no clue what he was doing but I could tell you exactly what he looked like in the dream. What has freaked me out for the past 3 years and almost 5 months is that he is on track to look EXACTLY like he did in my dream. He was very tall, blue eyes, lighter hair and had a dimple. Scott still brings this up every once in a while, I think it freaks him out a little too.

The other night I had a dream about Josie. I know she was just a little older than newborn, I was holding her and she had light hair and brown eyes. So now I am wondering what she is going to look like. Well, in all honesty I have been wondering what/who she would look like since I found out I was pregnant.

Tanner looks just like Scott, will Josie look just like me? I can just hear my friend Maria now, “Let’s hope not!” :o)

Will she have a mohawk for hair like Tanner did when he was born? Doesn’t matter, I have been buying cute headbands with bows on eBay for about a week now. Shhhhh, don’t tell Scott.

Will she have blue eyes like Tanner and Scott or get short changed and have hazel eyes like me? No offense to anyone with dark eyes, hey, I have them too! I have not-so-secretly been envious of my sisters and one brother because they have blue eyes.

Will she get Scott’s dimple like Tanner did?

Will you be able to tell that Josie and Tanner are siblings?

I have crazy thoughts, I know! Hormones will do that to a girl.

I should have known I was having a girl from the beginning because all the extra estrogen pumping through my body has turned me into a mess. If I hear a sad song or read a sad story I turn into a puddle of tears. The other day we were on our way to get groceries and I started crying because something out of the blue reminded me of our old dog which prompted sweet little Tanner to ask, “What is wrong Momma?” I told him I missed P.J. and he told me he did too which didn’t help the situation! :o)

Other than Scott always worrying he did something unknowingly to provoke the tears, I guess this is better than being annoyed with everything/everyone like when I was pregnant with Tanner! :o)

The Old Grey Mare

First of all, “Canadian Barb”, I accidentally deleted your last email you sent!!! If you still have it in your “sent” box can you resend it?

Alright, now that my “administrative” portion of this post is done I can get to the nitty-gritty.

Not only am I finding more gray hair on a daily basis (is there ANY hair dye that is safe during pregnancy?), but I am officially winded when I walk up our basement stairs. WHAT IS UP WITH THAT?!?! I have to suck in my breath and hike up my leg when I put my shoes on. I swear my face turns red! DOUBLE, WHAT IS UP WITH THAT?!?!

I had a dream last night that I was in an aerobics class and couldn’t keep up. Gee, I can’t image where THAT dream stemmed from??? :o)

I had my weeks of feeling great but I can tell I am slowing down again as I approach the 6 month mark. I still cannot believe I am almost 6 months along. I used to think this pregnancy was slowly ticking away but now I feel like I should have way more done by now. We still don’t have the guest room completely cleaned out, I haven’t even looked at paint, we need to go through all of Tanner’s baby stuff in the basement, I need to pick out girl fabric for the Moses basket and bassinet, we need to clean the carpeting…the list goes on and on.

I promise to make a to-do list today, right after I quit huffing and puffing from coming up the stairs! :o)

On a "take a deep breath and enjoy this" note, Josie has been kicking the heck out of me lately. I LOVE IT!

Habla Espanol?

Josephine will come out speaking Spanish if I don’t quit eating so much guacamole! It is past “craving” and into “obsession.” I swear to you I would eat it for every meal if I didn’t have a conscience or some self-control.

When I was pregnant with Tanner it was McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish and he LOVES them, I wonder if she will love guac and ask for it when we go out for Mexican food? If she ends up loving guac and grape G2 we will be on to something here!

I had a friend email me and tell me at least it is the “good fat.” Is that what I can call what has been creeping onto my thighs most likely due to all of the guac I have been consuming, the good fat? :o)

Oh yeah, and I think I have convinced Scott to road trip for a “gondola.” Mmmmmm, a gondola with some guac! KIDDING!

Josephine is GROUNDED!

Yesterday’s OB appointment was a bit more “exciting” (aka TERRIFYING) than normal. Our dear daughter decided to play some hide and seek while the nurse was trying to find her heartbeat. I swear it was the longest minutes of my life watching her move the Doppler around my belly trying to find it and then letting me know my doctor would be in to see if he could locate it.

I was trying to convince myself that all would be fine because she had been kicking me earlier in the day and just a little over a week ago our anatomy scan showed everything was perfect, but none of that stopped every bad thought from racing through my head.

I proceeded to make some deals with God, then Dr. Newman walked in and found it right away.

Good thing they took my blood pressure BEFORE all of this happened!

Thankfully the rest of my appointment was uneventful because honestly, I couldn’t take anymore after that. Dr. Newman was extremely pleased with my blood pressure and the fact that I have no swelling. In fact, my rings are still freely spinning around my fingers. I gained 4 pounds which made me cringe but as Scott keeps telling me, “YOU ARE PREGNANT!” And he yells it just like that! :o) These 20 extra pounds are making a big difference and God Bless my family for lying to me and saying that I only look like I have gained weight in my belly when I know my thighs are expanding too. :o)

The only added protocol this time around is that the high-risk OB that performed our anatomy scan and my regular OB would like to me to take one low dose aspirin and 2 fish oil capsules a day due to my previous experience with high-blood pressure during my pregnancy with Tanner. That makes 5 pills a day including my pre-natal and DHA supplement. Sadly, they are all horse pills with the exception of the aspirin.

I am happy to report that my leg cramps seem to be subsiding although I probably just jinxed myself and I will collapse from a huge double leg Charlie Horse tonight.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

I am back to feeling like I could fall asleep at any given time of the day, in fact, I do nap when possible! Take the other day for instance, I was sitting on our family room chair talking to Scott and the next thing you know I will sleeping with my elbow on the armrest and my chin propped up. I was cleaning out the closet in the guest room the other day and I swear to you I layed on the ground and closed my eyes for a few minutes only to panic that I would fall asleep and it was just Tanner and I home together. I don't think DCFS would consider 11 year old Roeni the Golden as an acceptable babysitter. Thankfully I managed to wrangle Tanner into a nap and he and I blissfully slept for 3 hours. I thought I was supposed to feel energized and FABULOUS in the second trimester?

I know this is coming from my lack of sleep at night. I cannot get comfortable no matter how many pillows I have around/under me. Our guest bed used to be my saving grace but since we have been pulling that room apart to become Tanner and Josephine's shared room I have been "couching it" almost every night at exactly 3:00 a.m. It is like clock-work. It isn't as good as the guest bed but better than tossing and turning all night disturbing Scott in our bed. There is something about our couch, it is almost like it molds to me. I will be sad when we finally decide to get rid of it as it has been my back up through 2 pregnancies now.

The Princess of the Tice Family will be named…

Oh you don’t think I am going to give it away at the beginning of a post do you??? :o) Be good and read the whole post before finding out, you waited this long, what is a few more seconds?

After many, many, many, many, many, names suggested and thrown out by both of us we have finally come to an agreement and much like when we named Tanner, we are pretty darn pleased with our combined pick.

I fought long and hard for Piper or Julia and Scott tried to stick his ground with Montana but in the end we both compromised and none of the above are a part of her name.

The day that we found out we were having a girl, Daddy found and dusted off the handy baby name book that helped us pick the name “Tanner” and we went through all of the girl names one by one. Well, we attempted to skip the choices we obviously wouldn’t pick like “Hortense” and “Shanaynay”, no offense if that is your or your child’s name, they just aren’t our style, but we did throw a few in to lighten us up. Hey, picking your child’s name can be a bit stressful. They will have to live with it the rest of their lives! There was one particular name that we kept coming back to and by the time we hit “Z” we knew we had her first name.

Her middle name is a bit of a different story. Since the first name we picked out starts with a “J”, yep, giving away a little hint there, I thought it would have been nice to have a middle name that starts with an “M” so we could share the same initials. We thought about my middle name and of course Scotty was drooling over the fact that I may actually give in and let him use “Montana”, ummmmmm, NO! We also thought about using Grandma Murle’s middle name which was “Mae.” In the end we didn’t go with a “M” middle name and decided to honor the person who will be her only living Great-Grandparent, my Grandma Goldie. No, her middle name isn’t “Goldie”, but we did choose GGG’s (Great Grandma Goldie’s) middle name.

So without further ado, our baby girl (or baby “gril” as Tanner now says instead of “goil”) will be named…

Josephine Naomi!!!

We haven’t decided if we will call her Josephine or Josie, we figured we would just let that fall into place much like the name “Tanner J” did. We thought he would be called “T.J.” but it never stuck and we didn’t push it, so who knows, she could be Josephine, Josie, Jo, Joey or maybe even FiFi. :o)

We still have a boy name that we love but we couldn’t change it into a female version …maybe we will be able to use it if there is a next time!

True Love ISN'T...

...having your wife take a wiff the new dog food you bought to see if maybe, JUST MAYBE, she can feed the dogs when you are working late or at school...

1/1,000,000,000th of a second after Scotty asked me to do that he regretted even bringing it up. THEN he had the nerve to tell me that I could have refused. Yes, he was in trouble for a while.

My "smelling" is still in overload and my stomach is weaker than weak. Cover your eyes if you don't want to read this next story, it tops "barfing on Roeni the Golden Retriever when I was pregnant with Tanner."

OK for those of you brave enough to read on, away we go! Don't say I didn't give you the chance to bail out...

About two weeks ago Tanner had a NASTY NASTY NASTY poopy diaper. Normally, he will amazingly save his poopy butts for Daddy but obviously his belly had something that didn't agree with him. I put on my game face and ventured in to his diaper only to see and SMELL the most horrific diarrhea that I have ever had to change only to send me into a panicking state of needing to throw up.

There I was with Tanner's legs in the air trying not to get poop all over the couch while I figured out where I was going to throw up without getting barf all over the couch! The only place was...his poopy diaper!!! Well, that wasn't the brightest idea as I got ANOTHER wiff of the poop and proceeded to barf A SECOND TIME in his diaper!

Don't say I didn't warn you! I gave you plenty of time to bail!

I finally got my stomach under control and was able to finish cleaning Booger up as he was laughing and yelling how "Mommy threw up in his diaper!"

After that episode I will now only buy Huggies as they not only contained the entire contents of Tanner's intestines but also my stomach without incident. :o)

Team Mommy or Team Daddy PLUS a Bonus!

Just because we have kept you waiting long enough, here is your bonus first. Look at that double chinny-chin-chin forming! WOOOO HOOOO! Can you tell I was tired? HA!




We had our anatomy scan yesterday and all looks fantastic! Praise God! The tech confirmed what Scott and I had already known for about 3 weeks now and that was that Baby Tice is a...GIRL!!!

AND I am proud to announce that we even have a name for her! That will be announced as soon as I get permission from the boss, but if you ask Tanner, he will tell you! He isn't a very good secret keeper. :o)

AHHHHHHHH, our bank account is about to suffer!!!

You know you are consuming way too many Tums in general when...

...you open the bottle of Tums and shake a few out only to hear "Momma, I want a Tums! It will make me feeeeeeeeel better!" from all the way across your house in another room!

Today is the big day and I would be more excited if I had gotten more than 4 hours of sleep last night. I just couldn't get comfortable no matter how hard I tired!

You know you are consuming way too many Tums at bedtime when...

...you are laying in bed with your 3 year old child and he turns to you and says, "Momma, I need my Tums before I go to bed!"

Oh the cravings!

This madness needs to stop! Each week it is something new, minus the constant craving for guacamole (Thank you Meggie for joining me last week to indulge!) and crab legs (Thank you Scotty for our date night on Saturday and also letting me indulge!). This week it is tuna fish with Miracle Whip and relish (no bread) and grape G2, the low calorie Gatorade.

While I am limited on my consumption of tuna to 6 ounces a week (BOOO!) the G2 is free game and I have been drinking it like a maniac! I even have little Booger Jake hooked and normally he is a milk and water kind of kid.

Next craving in line: a “gondola” from Avanti’s in Normal or a LaGondola Torpedo which is essentially the same thing…do you think I can convince Scott to road trip for one??? Better yet, Stephanie, can you send one Fed Ex?

Still in the line up: Gene & Jude’s and Joy’s Noodles!!!

I thought this was kind of cool...

I found this on a website:

"This is an impressive week for growth! Your baby weighs approximately 250 grams (8-9 ounces) and is about 22 cm or 6 inches long.

If you are having a girl, her ovaries now contain primitive egg cells. Lanugo (a covering of fine soft hair) appears all over the baby's body. This fine hair will remain until birth draws nearer. Sometimes you can still see some on the baby's face and ears after birth. Also apparent is vernix, a milky white covering that protects your baby’s skin from its aquatic environment. Can you imagine how wrinkled you’d get if you were in water for nine months? The placenta continues to grow and offer nourishment for your baby while the permanent teeth buds are forming behind the already formed milk teeth buds. Growth becomes rapid now and your baby begins to store iron for the production of red blood cells. Your baby can even dream (REM sleep)!"

Well I hope our baby isn't having as crazy dreams as I am! I almost dread going to sleep at night. Although it is amazing that I actally dream with all of the tossing and turning I have been doing. I have been having re-occuring dreams about people that I went to grade school or high school with. Bizaare to say the least!

I told Scott last night that I have no clue how I am going to go back to getting up in the middle of the night again. I remember it being such a shock when we brought Tanner home and loving when Scott had the day off and looking forward to the weekend because I knew we would split the night shift. On the bright side, at least this time we know what to expect...kind of. :o)

Poll Results!

Well, the race was close with 3 votes for a boy, 4 votes for a girl and 3 votes for a puppy! I can tell those of you who voted "puppy" are WRONG! :o) We will MOST DEFINATELY NOT be getting another dog in July!

A little over a week and the answer will be revealed! I can't complain these past almost 3 weeks have flown by! Maybe that is because Scotty and I already know the answer. :o)

"Hotel Delnor"

So I COMPLETELY understand why woman who have delivered their babies at Delnor call it “Hotel Delnor.” HOLY MOLEY! It is GORGEOUS! I cannot wait to use the stunning bathroom and the IN ROOM COMPUTER! We will be able to keep you all updated! You also need to get a glimpse of the garden visiting room. Sheesh!

So yes, that means we finally got our tour in. I loved the fact that Tanner was invited to see where “Mommy and the new baby will be staying” and he liked all of the snack stations. :o) Did I mention the complimentary snack stations and the gorgeous garden room? How could I forget the complimentary massage too??? I may never want to go home!

To say that I was beyond impressed would be an understatement. SO EXCITED!

DAAAAAAAAANG!

I almost fell over yesterday when I caught a glimpse of my (big) belly in the bathroom mirror. I am proud to say that this time around I look pretty darn good! (No modesty here today!) I actually LOOK PREGNANT and not just like a big fat fatty! In fact, I am going to have Scotty take a pic of me this weekend. I already practiced my pose in the mirror. SNORT! Of all of the pathetic things I have done during this pregnancy, that ranks right up on top!

I do think my belly looks bigger than it should for being almost 18 weeks but I can’t really judge it against anything because last time around I was huge everywhere. I have a little sneaking in under my chin but I can still see my collar bones so I am in good shape. No pun intended!

P.S. I get an average of 10 visits a day to this blog and only have 5 votes...turds! :o)

The results are in!

It was nice to see the little one again today. I can tell you that he/she has a large head and long legs! Just like Daddy! The head was measuring 17 weeks 6 days and the legs were measuring at 18 weeks. Heartbeat was nice and strong!

Scotty and I know what we are having but he won't let me spill the beans until after our Level 2 ultrasound on March 10th. Sorry! Send all hate mail to him! :o)

Place your guess on our poll. You will know in about 2½ weeks whether you were right and Scott and I can laugh at all the wrong answers in the mean time. Fun for everyone!

An early sneaky-peek!

Yesterday was another appointment and thanks to my WONDERFUL OB/GYN I have weaseled my way into an ultrasound tomorrow and I am hoping that we may be able to know if the new baby will be a member or Team Mommy or Team Daddy/Tanner. Scott wants to wait until week 20 to find out but I am going to over power him on this one. I have been letting the little one know it can give me all the heartburn it wants as long as he/she is cooperative tomorrow!

My appointment was uneventful which equals GOOD! We went over my ailments as for the Charlie Horses I am supposed to try to get in more calcium…by eating a few Tums. HA! When I told him how many I was already eating due to my heartburn he suggested an over-the-counter antacid pill to hopefully help with that. I guess I see even more milk in my future.

Until tomorrow…EEEEEEEEEEEK!

And our child shall be named Charlie…

…for all of the Charlie Horses I am getting in the middle of the night! SHEESH! And yep, still have the heartburn! It is quite the combo at 2:00 in the morning! Oh, and let’s mix in Tanner climbing into the middle of our bed and kicking me throughout the night along with Roeni, Ruthie and Daddy snoring. GOOD TIMES!

We have been trying to plan our “Tour de Delnor” but something always seems to come up on the weekends. Scott volunteers at Delnor and has said that the waiting area of the Maternity Ward is very nice and I know a couple of women who have delivered there who say that the rooms and bathrooms are AMAZING! Apparently it is more like an upscale hotel room than a hospital room. I will let you know if we ever make it on a tour!

Monday brings another doctor’s appointment…no ultrasound, but at least I will be able to hear the heartbeat for a small sense of satisfaction and it does mark one more week closer to our Level 2 ultrasound!

I love you, GlaxoSmithKline!

Glaxo is the maker of Tums, by the way...and my true Valentine! :o) Who needs chocolate when you can have Tums Smoothies and it gives you heartburn anyway?

The old wive's tale claims that if you have heartburn your child will be born with lots of hair. This child better come out with the biggest head of hair I have ever seen! I remember having heartburn with Tanner, but not until later in my pregnancy. He was born with a strip of hair that resembled a mohawk so I am not putting much faith in this child having long, flowing locks either!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Team Mommy or Team Daddy?

The much anticipated answer to “Do you know what you are having yet?” will be answered on March 10th if the little one cooperates. I will finally be able to say boy or girl instead of the smarty pants answer of “a baby!” We have a level 2 ultrasound scheduled that day and to say that I am anxious would be an understatement.

I have been in ultrasound withdrawal since being released from the RE. You can’t just give a girl a sneaky-peek every week for 12 weeks and then go to plain ol’ dopplers to hear the heart beat. Yes, I was spoiled, but the recent lack of ultrasounds is just ridiculous!

Other than being asked if we know what we are having yet and giving my snarky answer the other question we get is, “Do you want a boy or a girl?” Heck, at this point I am just happy there is another baby coming and could care less! Scott, on the other hand, will answer a boy because then he knows he has a better possibility of getting a 3rd child out of me. :o)

Both have their advantages although I am not sure if our budget would survive a girl’s wardrobe! Have you seen all of the cute girl clothes?!?!?! It is enough to make my head spin and our bank account to go to zero.

My dad is still convinced that this one is a girl and will refer to him/her as Tanner’s little sister. Even Tanner will tell you it is a “Baby Goil” and yes, he still wants to name her Ruthie! I KNOW he is still hoping for a puppy instead! My gut thinks a girl too which means it is a boy, Scott doesn’t have a feeling either way. He is no fun. :o)

A MONTH! EEEK! How will I make it that long?

Love is...

...delivering your wife's "24-hour catch" a/k/a URINE to the hospital lab for a second time. (If you remember WAAAAAAAAAY back when I was pregnant with Tanner I avoided a hospital stay by promising to perform a 24-hour catch at home.)

Not to worry, nothing is wrong. Due to my pre-eclampsia when I was pregnant with Tanner my doctor wants to have a baseline to compare to just in case it is suspected again.

My blood/cultures got a 100% A-OK so let's all hope my urine follows in its footsteps. Lovely conversation, eh? At least I haven't started in on the "feeling like I hit the boy bar on a bike" again, but not to worry, it is coming!

Still chomping on Tums, still trying to find a vitamin that agrees with me, still anxious to find out what we are having, still have no girl names. :o)

Honky Tonk Badonk A Donk...

...is what you are going to be singing to me if my appetite keeps up!

Since I have hit Week 15, EVERYTHING sounds good and I want it all! We were watching TV last night and every time a food commerical came on I was yelling, "OOOOOH! That sounds sooooooooooo good!" I had Scott busting a gut!

I am hungry all the time now! I can still only eat a small portion at each sitting but I am up to six feeds a day and hitting pretty close to 1800 calories a day. :o) My heartburn is still going strong but I will not let that get me down. Tums to the rescue!

The scale is going to say, "One at a time, please." at my next appointment!

By the way, unfortunately, no one accepted my Gene & Jude's challenge. :o(

Anyone out there wanna show some insane love?

If there is anyone out there who really loves me and is crazy enough to risk their life in a snow storm, I am craving a hot dog from Gene & Jude's in River Grove. I mean REALLY craving one! Damn you Daddy for introducing me to that evil (read: so good just thinking about it makes my mouth water) place! Don't worry little unborn one, we will take you there when you are old enough to eat a hot dog without us worrying you will choke on it.

To any taker of this adventure: I can only eat half of a hot dog, I won't get any onions on it, and you can have all my fries...pretty please?

Twidling my thumbs so let's talk names!

This pregnancy isn’t as exciting as it was when I was getting ultrasounds every week, although the less eventful the better in my eyes! I haven’t been sick lately (keeping my fingers crossed) and my energy level is finally picking up although I do find myself getting tired more quickly than usual.

I am however, still struggling with heartburn and getting in all of my calories. Watch Dog Scott has me drinking Carnation Instant Breakfast every morning and had me on special Pre-natal vitamins (He would go buy them and I forced myself to use them because I won’t waste the money, a/k/a I am too cheap to waste them!) but they caused such bad heartburn that I was in misery. I am still looking for another high quality brand and using the samples my doctor gave me in the mean time which cause horrific heartburn too. Any suggestions would be helpful.

5-7 more weeks until we find out the sex of this baby. That seems so far away! If it is a girl, we will officially have to get our act together when it comes to a name.

As with Tanner, we only have a boy name. That is after throwing out the options of Griffin Scott, Scott Alan, Jr. and Brady Montana (Scott’s pick, NOT mine!) Daddy is not fond enough of Griffin, I grew up in a house with a Sr. and Jr. and it was always confusing when the phone rang, and I am not naming our child after Scott’s favorite Notre Dame Quarterbacks. Plus the name “Montana” reminds me of the girl I couldn’t stand on The Real World Boston. Our boy name is so perfect to us and we know others will smile too when they hear it.

As for girl’s name…still NADA! ZILCH! ZIPPO! Scott threw out Piper, Paige and Tiffany and I threw out Montana (here we go again!) and Claire. No offense to anyone with a child named Claire but all I can think of when I hear that name are the lines in The Breakfast Club, “Claire. It’s a family name.” “Oh, it’s a fat girl’s name!” Pathetic, I know! Scott hasn’t commented on Leah, Hannah (I watch too much Jon & Kate Plus 8), Julia, Molly or my long love of Francesca Emily after my grandparents, Frank and Emily. Scott only has Kennedy left on the board. I am sure those will all get thrown out sooner or later too. :o)

We both adore Tanner’s name and I hope we can come up with a girl name that we are equally in love with if need be. I only watch the episodes of A Baby Story where a girl is born so I can find out what they name her for ideas. Double Pathetic, I know!

It’s official, we need to have another boy. We already have boy clothes, toys and a name. :o) Hence, why my dad, Tanner and I are convinced it is a girl.

How many more weeks???

How CRUEL!

There are very few things that sound good to eat/drink to me lately. The one drink that had been a staple in my daily diet was Simply Apple. Not anymore. It now gives me horrendous heartburn, heck, just looking at it gives me heartburn! Tanner really isn’t a juice kid, but he will sometimes ask for it so hopefully the last bottle won’t go to waste. I am totally bummed though. The only other beverage that sounds good to me is skim milk and decaf iced tea, but I have been choking down water with lemon.

On a positive, I can tell I am picking up some energy. Shhhh, don’t tell Scott. It has been nice to be lazy and use my pregnancy as an excuse. :o) My arms no longer feel like they are concrete and I can keep my eyes open all day, yet I am still in bed by 8:00. We have a good system though, while Daddy is up doing homework Tanner will lay in bed with me, quietly watch a movie and is sleeping not long after me.

We have nothing exciting to report until our level 2 ultrasound and that won’t be until sometime in March. It seems sooooooooo far away! I have been dying to know what we are having and the wait is killing me. I need to look up all of those old wives tales on how to determine the sex of your baby. I did my Chinese calendar, which was right on Tanner being a boy, and it says this one is a girl. We still have ZERO girl names so I am betting we are having a girl, although we only had “Tanner” for a name the first time around, luckily he was a boy!

Pure GENIUS!

I have decided that Tice #2 is a genius before s/he is even out of the womb. I believe our unborn second child has been making me so sick and miserable for the following reasons:

1. S/he has decided that if s/he makes me miserable enough, that in turn, it will make Daddy miserable enough to change his mind about wanting a 3rd child therefor this child will not have to be the "middle child."

2. With their only being 2 children in our family his/her portion of whatever inheritance we decide to leave our children (If any because we plan on spending every single penny WE have made on OUR retirement!) will be a larger cut with only having to split with one sibling.

Child of ours, you have 18 years to torture us, why start in the womb???

My name is Chilly Jilly, AH-E-AH-CHOO! (Bonus Points if you remember Chilly Willy.)

The cold I have been suffering from has officially made me delirious. Exhausted pregnant woman with a horrific cold + wild 3 year old with a runny schnoz + overworked, working on his Master’s Degree, Daddy = a miserable Casa de Tice. Thankfully, Daddy has stepped up as Mr. Mom and nurse and we appreciate it. Also, thank you to the Grandparents for taking Tanner when I was too sick to take care of him while Dad was at work or school.

For the record, being tired is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better than dry heaving. I had a nice bout of that and I will take tired ANY DAY! I am hoping it is not here to stay. Who ever heard of nausea starting in the 2nd trimester?!?!?

We had our first regular OB appointment on Monday and all is going well. We found out that I will have a scheduled c-section (our doctor is old school and Scott and I are too conservative to take any chances with a VBAC) on July 21st if I do not go into labor sooner. A bigger topic of conversation was diet. My doctor wants my caloric intake to be between 1800-2000 calories a day which has been difficult considering nothing has sounded good to me especially with this cold.

On an EXCITING front, twins seem to be in the air! Maria is set to deliver her twin girls any week now…I am still rooting for January 31st! And we just found out our friends Mark (who was in our wedding) and Christina are expecting twins July 23rd! I could beat them for waiting so long to tell us but excited to have a pregnancy buddy with a due date so close to mine.

A little warming up

I am definitely not talking about our weather! BRRRR! I told Scott I was pregnant at the wrong time! I need to be 9 months in the winter instead of the summer.

Believe it or not, I think Tanner may be warming up to the idea of a baby in the house. Dare I type this in fear of jinxing the situation? Last week I broke down and bought the baby bedding I have been eyeing for a year now, Wendy Bellissimo’s Honey Bee. It is gender neutral and since no matter what we have Tanner and the new baby will be sharing a room (We really need an upstairs playroom and Tanner’s current room will be perfect!) I figured I could make it half Honey Bees and half Transformer Bumblebee since that seems to be Tanner’s new favorite. We have promised him new Bumblebee bedding and he is geeked.

Back to the story. So we get the bedding home and Tanner is desperate to take it out and look at it. I explained to him that is was for the new baby hoping he wasn’t going to get too upset that it wasn’t a present for him. Surprisingly he was telling me how the blankie was for the baby to cover up with and the “pillows” (bumper pads) were for the baby’s head and we were going to put it in the crib. PLEASE let this attitude stick long after the baby comes home.

I have been trying to hype him up letting him know that he would have someone to play with and boss around. :o) Maybe it is working. He always wants to hold puppies so I have been pumping him up about holding the baby too, so far he is unenthused with that portion of being a big brother and more excited about chasing the baby with a monster truck. Oh yeah, and he still calls it a “Baby Goil.”

I am still not even close to up to speed but hoping that will all change next week when I hit 13 weeks and my second trimester. I laughed when I read how I was “living for 13 weeks” in Tanner’s pregnancy journal because I was so sick. Now I am living for 13 weeks so that I may have some energy! I have decided the lack of energy is worse than the nausea because being so tired if I get a wave of sickness it literally knocks anything I had left in me (which isn’t much) right out and I am down for the count!

What was THAT????

My stomach has been rumbling and grumbling. That hasn't happened since I have been banded. I am all of a sudden hungry all the time and if I don't eat I get really light-headed, yet nothing sounds good to me.

I went through a phase in my first couple of weeks where all I wanted was Pizza Hut personal pan pizza's. Tanner and I would share a cheese one. Then it was guacamole, then hot & sour soup, then grape juice, then "Simply Apple" apple juice. Now, NOTHING! It has been hard to plan meals when nothing sounds good to me, yet I have been watching more and more of the Food Channel and those crazy Travel Channel food shows.

I am still tired and have had no real nausea. Every once in a while I get a lovely session of the dry-heaves but nothing regular. Once again, I cannot feed the dogs, that will put me down for the day/night. Just the sight of their food sends me running to the bathroom. I basically have to close my eyes and cover my nose on the nights that Scott gets home late. Thankfully he will pre-measure it out for me in the morning, but I think it is about time Tanner learns to feed the dogs. :o)