On June 16th the hubbie and I finally got the diagnosis we weren’t quite prepared to hear for KEM (9 yr. old son) – Crohn’s Disease.  There was still one test that needed to be done in order to reach an area of KEM’s small intestine and colon but that could wait until after the biopsy results came in.  Those biopsy results came in on June 20th and the team of GI Doctors, along with the Nutritionist, gave us all the news that KEM would need an NG feeding tube for 8-10 weeks.  For that time period he would also need to follow a very strict, 300 calorie, diet.

KEM cried at hearing the idea that he was going to need the feeding tube but in the course of the discussion he realized the need for it and especially over the summer instead of during the school year.   (That doesn’t mean though that he won’t have it for the start of school – but we are trying to be optimistic.)  The feeding tube insertion day was scheduled for June 23rd.  Enough time to let the anxiety build up but also enough time to get some education for KEM and KMM (5 yr. old daughter).

NG tube insertion day came and went relatively painless.  We were all, especially KEM, mentally exhausted as we left the hospital.  The whole process was hard but the hardest was inserting the tube into KEM’s nose.  KEM started to cry and then I, of course, started to as well.  I stepped out of the room to collect myself and then came back in and sat on the hospital bed with him.  I told him that I was sorry because “I know I am about to hurt you a little bit but please understand I am only doing it because it will make you healthy again.”  I then asked him to close his eyes while I started to insert the tube.

I crushed it – I got it in on the first try. No doubting myself. I went full speed ahead and did it. I did however, have a little issue with the metal piping from the tube (have to pull it out so the formula can run through the tube) but I’m glad it happened while we were at the hospital because we were able to troubleshoot it there with the nurses.  KEM was soo amazing!  He was very uncomfortable for the rest of the night but other than that he was a ROCK STAR!

Then off we drove for home and in search of ways to adjust to this new experience…..

Thing 2 is 4 months old today!  I cannot believe it.  An email from BabyCenter says between this time and 6 months of age, she’ll develop the ability to make some sounds, which means we might hear the words “mama” and “dada.”

At this point Hubby and I can totally wait for her to talk! Thing 1 is all we need for now and he is a handful!  Although we are interested in Thing 2 saying words we are not interested either.

Thing 2 has been checking herself out lately when she is near a mirror.  She actually will check out anyone else that she can see in the mirror too.  It is so cute and funny.  Although I am hoping this is not an indication that she will be a high maintenance girl?!

Thing 2’s new pediatrician (who I love) said it would be ok if we wanted to start trying her out on food but I am going to wait until the end of the month (or later) to try cereal.  I think I am just not ready to have to be able to start that whole process with her.  Am I being selfish?  Kane would definitely say so…  I also don’t trust that Kane won’t try to put other food in her mouth when he sees us feeding her?!

This past week Thing 2 has been “trying out” her voice.  There are so many times when she makes these noises and then she just laughs.  Then there are other times when she screams bloody murder.  In fact, on Wednesday night, after we drove all over Smyrna to get Thing 1 ice cream for his birthday, I had to pull over because I thought her car seat strap was cutting her somewhere.  She screamed bloody murder!  NOPE- NOT AT ALL – she was fine.  Just really wanted to get out of her car seat!

This will be the first week for all of us as a full week since the Hurricane came and then we had Labor Day weekend.  I pray this week is better than the last two!

As more and more time passes my biggest fear is coming true. I will miss my sister’s one and only college graduation.  Although we are in the process of figuring out a way, via technology, that I can still “see her graduate” in my heart it will never be the same. 

You see I have been to every momentous occasion for my siblings. I cannot imagine not being able to watch my youngest sister walk across the stage to receive her diploma.  As much as everyone continues to remind me that she will be going on to graduate school and that I can go to that graduation ceremony it will never be the same. 

People go to college and receive their undergraduate degree once in a lifetime.  Yes they move on and continue their education in a variety of other ways but one only has ONE graduation for their undergraduate degree.  She will only graduate with her bachelor’s once in her lifetime and I will not be able to see it happen.

Of course with technology there are plenty of ways I could make this happen but as it turns out those different methods are starting not to pan out either.  My heart is broken..

I do know that my sister would rather I be at home protecting myself and her newborn niece but I can’t help think about all that I will miss in just that one day.  Will she really be ok with it? 

And yes my other family members will be there and be able to take lots of pictures but it still won’t be the same.  Will I have to be photoshopped into those photos?  Will it still be the same?

Only time will tell……

This baby girl has definitely put me through the ringer already and she isn’t even here yet. I pray this is not a hint of what is to become of her childhood and teenage years.

I have had two additional ultrasounds (usually you only get one).  The first ultrasound was to determine Thing 2’s due date.  I had a mdwife in the practice who openly admitted that she didn’t know how to use the office ultrasound machine.  So off to get an ultrasound I went.  The second ultrasound was the “normal” one most expectant mothers have.  This is done about 20 weeks or so.  During this ultrasound the techs usually can determine the sex of the baby.  But they also are looking to make sure development is occurring to the typical expectations.  The third one I had to get was because my belly wasn’t big enough.  The doctor decided that my belly wasn’t growing big enough so he wanted to make sure Thing 2 was growing appropriately.  As much as I was on board for making sure she was ok in utero I was a little nervous for this ultrasound.  Thank goodness the hubbie came along.  As we know everything came out A-OK.

The second abnormal thing I had to do this time around was the glucose test.  I didn’t pass the first time.  So I have had to do the 3 hr glucose test.  I say this is all because I listened to the the ladies at the front desk instead of my own instincts.  I asked about having to fast for this test (because I remember having to do this the first time around).  But they said , “no you don’t have to fast”.  So I listened to them.  Then I failed the test!  So I had to go on a Saturday at 6am to complete the 3 hr glucose test.  This meant I had to be poked and prodded with a needle four different times.  The only good thing that happened during this test was the amazingly, gentle nurse from the doctor’s office was there and she took great care of me.  Lo and behold – we passed this test too!

This leaves me to last week’s appointment.  My current appointment schedule is now at weekly visits.  Last week my blood pressure came in a little higher than usual.  So I had to go back in the very next day.  And what do you think the outcome was??  You guessed it – we were fine.  The doctor actually said to me, “What is going on here with you?  I am beginning to think you really like us here.  You keep coming back!”  I simply smiled and shook my head as if to say yup I love it here.  I definitely enjoy coming in here as often as I do!  Then he ended the visit by saying, “You know at this point we are ok with baby coming any day, right?”  My response was, “I am too!”

So as it stands now Thing 2 is ready to come… any day now.  I wish it was sooner rather than any later.  Last week would have been great or even over the Easter holiday.  All the family was in a close proximity to the hospital.  But of course, this little rascal will probably take her little time coming out just like her brother.  The family members are all back to their locations, far, far away – NY. MA, etc.  Maybe this means she will come this week?! 

Who knows.. at the rate Thing 2 is going I will probably have to wait until the schedule induction date…

Yes that is exactly what I am going to talk about.  I am a 30 something yr old that feels like she is wearing diapers.  This is one of the ugly little things that no one talks about during pregnancy.  Around 7 or 8 months you start to have a need to wear pads, not just once in a while but every stinkin’ day!  Yeah that’s right because otherwise you could really ruin some clothes. 

And it doesn’t get any better after the baby comes because then you really need to buy those diaper looking underwear things.  These are the things that aren’t necessarily in the baby books or discussed by women. 

So ladies, when it is your time to have a baby remember to stock up on all kinds of pads – light and thin, big and bulky and the diaper ones too!

I know though.. it is all worth it in the end!

Holy shit!!!

It is 8 weeks away from my due date.  I am excited and scared all at the same time! 

Why am I scared? 

1. Well for starters we have no room ready for Thing 2!  The room right now is still set up as an office.  The bassinet is still in the attic.  Thing 1 is still sleeping in Thing 2’s crib (set up as a toddler bed). 
2. We still have not figured out how to spell Thing 2’s name yet.  In my mind I have already decided but I feel like the husband is not too keen on it.  But I am getting to the point where I don’t care what he says because this child has been beating MY body up – not his!
3. To be really honest I am just not ready yet.  There are still so many things left to do.  I am so scared Thing 2 is going to start to come when Thing 1 and I are home alone and I will not be prepared to deal with where to take Thing 1, going to the hospital by myself, etc.  (YES, I sometimes am the drama queen in my family).

Why am I excited?

1. Well to be honest I am getting really tired of wearing this support belt that feels more like a corset or girdle every day!
2. I am tired of getting my body beat up every day!  This little girl is a brut.
3. I am tired of not being able to pick up and hug Thing 1 like I usually could.  I really want to be able to lay down on my belly and read him a book like we used to do.  I kind of just want my body back.
4. I really want to see this little girl!  (Thing 1 has been dreaming about her and tells me she has black hair.  I hate to tell him that most babies have black hair when they are first born.)

Not quite sure what the deal is with Thing 1 but what I do know is that his Mommy and Daddy are going to be all over him like a lawnmower on grass. 

Yesterday I picked him up from school and he met me with such sad eyes.  As he approached the cubicle to get his coat and backpack he continued to keep his sad face on and his head down.  As he stepped outside the door I asked him what was wrong and he replied, “I didn’t have a good day Mommy.”

I had to speak with the one teacher and so after we were finished talking I asked her if he had a bad day.  Her response was, “no he did not have a good day at all.  In fact it was so bad I had to write you a note.  It is in his backpack.”  I thanked her and then we started to walk outside.  Of course I couldn’t wait to get outside before I ripped open that backpack to find his “bad boy note”. 

Thing 1 had to “be told several times today to have “nice” hands.  He was observed “fighting/hitting” several other children.  He was redirected several times but this did not work.  He was put in time out.  However, this tends not to work either.”

Of course I wanted to get right on him and yell at him.  I calmly asked him what happened and who/why he was fighting.  He gave me some story about playing with girls and another boy came up to him and they started pushing each other.  I thought “oh great” this is not good.  I talked to him a little more and we discussed his punishment. 

As I looked over the note again I wondered if he was fighting with just this one boy as he said or if there really were multiple children?!  And I am a little surprised that he was put in a timeout and that it had no effect on him at all?!  I won’t see the teachers again until next week but I will definitely be following up with them (and him too this weekend!).

That brings me to today.  On the way to school Thing 1 and I talked about how important it was that he have a good today at school.  How he was not to argue with his teachers, he was to keep his hands to yourself, talk nicely, etc, etc.  We also had a conversation about him trying the hamburger at daycare today (random I know, but this kid won’t eat them for us and that is what was on the lunch menu).

Well, around lunchtime I got a text from his babysitter that transports him back to daycare – “he got another note in his backpack today.  He was being disrespectful.”  UGH!!  He wouldn’t talk to her or his daycare provider about what happened.  You can bet I can’t wait to see this note!

As I started to recover from my anxiety over his behavior the daycare provider called me on her cellphone.  I thought “OH CRAP what is wrong now”.  She very happily told me that he loved the hamburger, ate the whole thing, and he even told her how much he loved it. 

Darn this kid!

As the start of my 8^th month approaches I find that I will be lucky to:

• Run much at all
• Workout much at all

Baby girl is starting to cause me great discomfort.  I guess I should be proud of even being able to have lasted this many months running more than 20 miles a week.  I am pretty sure that 2 weeks ago I overdid it by running 27 miles.  PLEASE DON’T TELL MY HUSBAND!

But last week she really started to hurt my pelvic bone(s) and I am taking things very slowly.  As you can imagine that is extremely hard for me to do.  Last week I ran 13 miles and realized that was it for me.  I had to take 4 days off and do nothing – no working out and it was hard but I felt good.

Monday I took a low impact class at the Y and ran VERY SLOWLY for 2 miles.. Tuesday I lifted and ran about 5 miles with walking in between.  I have to say I could still walk on Wednesday and that is a good thing!  Last Thursday I could barely walk at all without significant pain.  The lovely new maternity support belt I am now rocking with my everyday attire has helped. 

I think I will be lucky to get ten miles a week in now.  BUT again I am thankful that I could make it this far.  When I was pregnant with Thing 1 I didn’t last past 3 months running (wasn’t much of a runner then though). 

I will take one day at a time – one week at a time – and truly listen to my body.  The doctor told me that if I didn’t pay attention to my body I could end up on bedrest.  That is a phrase I could not hear – imagine telling Thing 1 to sit still for an hour – that won’t happen!  So I promise to listen to my body and do only what I can and not push myself.

Besides – I have to be able to run the full in October!!!!

So Kevin and Kane took off on their trek to Syracuse yesterday at lunchtime.  As I sat at work and watched the clock I realized I was a little disappointed I didn’t get one more hug goodbye from my boys.  But then I remembered what I had in store for myself for the night.  I had a hair appt which I desperately needed.  After I got my haircut I was going to go for a nice run and then run some errands and then get a pedicure and my eyebrows down.

Got a nice 6 mile run in and then got in the car to run my errands.  After I was finished with my errands I went to the new Nail Salon in Smyrna because they were running a pedicure special and I really like their chairs!  Well 3 hrs later I walked out of there with my new toe color and my eyebrows done.  By this time it was 9pm which as we all know is my bedtime.

I came home, fed Lily, and then sat turn to watch some TV.  Watching TV at this time means that I will last possibly a half hr and then wake up at 2am on the couch.  Ironically that is exactly what happened.  So much for the list of things to do after visiting the nail salon.