Our Second Anniversary

Blake and I celebrated two years of marriage yesterday!

While he was at work, Mrs. Michelle dropped off John Michael to hang out with me and Isabelle while she went to her doctor's appointment.  She brought us lunch, and then sent me off to get a pedicure, do some shopping for baskets (for the changing table), and go to my doctor's appointment.  Meanwhile, she and John took care of Isabelle and helped me out with housework!  How sweet of them was that??

(Just in case you're wondering, my doctor's appointment went well - I'm 2 cm dilated, still about halfway effaced, and Lacey's head dropped some!  If I don't have her this week we might start talking about induction or other methods of getting labor started at my appointment next week.)

Anyway, after I got home from running errands and Blake got home from work, everyone cleared the house (by that time Ariel and Catherine had come over too, lol).  We put Isabelle to bed early, and I got dinner ready.  I brought out our nice china and crystal, and set up a romantic candlelight dinner of one of Blake's favorite meals, spaghetti (I actually had some frozen from the last time I made some, so I got away with not having to cook - which is great, because my spaghetti takes a good 4-5 hours to make)!  Blake had brought home a bottle of wine and a cigar, which he enjoyed sitting on the porch while it rained.  We had coffee with whipped cream on top for dessert, and then spent the rest of the night cuddling, laughing, and watching our wedding video.  We really didn't have room in our new budget to buy each other gifts this year, but we had a wonderful anniversary.  I would much rather spend a nice, quiet, romantic evening together anyway reliving our wedding memories!

Looking back on the past two years, it seems like yesterday that we got married, and it seems like we've been married forever!  I mean, how many life-experiences can one couple squeeze into two years?  We got married, moved out of our parents' houses (I moved to a different city), I had to have gallbladder surgery, we got pregnant with Isabelle, moved to a new house, had our beautiful baby girl and then got pregnant again four months later, Blake changed careers, and now we're expecting another baby girl any day now!  Whew!

Life has given us so many struggles, and so many, many blessings!  I'm so thankful for the past two years, and I can't wait to see what the future will bring!

And the Ticking Time Bomb is...STILL Ticking

Well with my due date only days away, I can honestly say that I'm tired of being pregnant. 

Don't get me wrong - pregnancy is amazing.  It's nothing less than a miracle to take part in the creation of life in such an intimate way - growing a tiny baby inside your body, nourishing and protecting that precious little one until she's ready to be born!  My favorite part is feeling those gentle baby kicks and hiccups reminding you that your sweet little someone is still there.

But pregnancy comes with its difficulties too.  Hormonal mood swings, digestive issues, sleepless nights (exhaustion), constant backache, heartburn, and the new soreness in my ribs whenever I inhale are just a few of the emotional and physical difficulties I've been dealing with.  And I'm so ready for it to be over.

Not to mention, I'm also VERY ready to meet my precious Lacey!  I can't wait to hold her in my arms and kiss her little cheeks!

So I feel like a ticking time bomb...whenever I call someone, I can hear it in their voice that they're wondering if I'm in labor.  "Sooo, how are you DOING?  Anything going ON?"  And my dear husband is constantly asking if I'm okay every time I get out of bed in the middle of the night to use the bathroom.  No Blake, no contractions, no mucus plug, I just had to pee (again).

NESTING UPDATE: 

• My changing station is finally set up.  Blake hung my shelves (the ones I painted myself), and I set up my diapers, wipes, medical and baby-grooming supplies, plus Lacey's clothes on my shelves so I have easy access to everything.  Honestly it's working out so well I'm wondering why I didn't do this setup a year ago!
• I got the baby swing back from my friend Rhiannon.  I had lent it to her when she adopted her baby girl Alana.  The only thing I'm worried about is keeping Isabelle from getting to Lacey while she's in there.  I'm trying to teach her not to touch the swing at all, but it's not working out too well.  I guess I'm just going to have to be super careful and grow an extra pair of eyes in the back of my head.
• I'm borrowing a car seat from my friend Jamie until Blake and I order Isabelle's "big girl" convertible seat in a few weeks.  Today I'm going to wash the cover and clean it off really good, and it should be ready to go!
• Mrs. Michelle helped me convert my playpen back into a co-sleeper.  It's set up in my bedroom right now, and I can't help but look at it every time I'm in my room and wonder at the fact that soon my baby girl will be sleeping there.
  
  I feel like my home is finally ready to welcome a new little one, and I'm so ready! 

DOCTOR'S UPDATE: 

• At my last checkup (which was Monday), I was 1.5 cm dilated and about halfway effaced.  That doesn't necessarily mean I'm close to going into labor, but it does mean that when I do go into labor, I have 8.5 cm to go (instead of 10)!  YAY for progress! 
• OH - I don't think I wrote about my last ultrasound!  I had an ultrasound last Wednesday (my doctor wanted to see how big Lacey was), and everything looked great!  They estimated that Lacey was 5-something lbs (Isabelle was only 6 lbs 1 oz) - he said that I just make tiny babies, which is fine by me! 
• My doctor did guess that I would go into labor sometime this week, and since today's Friday, I'm due Monday, and the week's almost over, we'll have to see!

I'll try to keep everyone updated when I go into labor - Blake's probably going to be posting updates on facebook (I'll be busy).  Keep us in your prayers please!

Crazy-Pregnant-Lady-Nesting Mode and some False Labor

So these past few days I've been majorly nesting.  I don't have the energy all the time, but I do what I can with the energy I have.  I've been cleaning the house and the van.  Unfortunately I'm still waiting on someone to do certain manly things around the house, like put up the shelves in the nursery and at the changing station (which I am moving to the kitchen so that middle-of-the-night diaper changes don't wake Isabelle), and putting up the blinds.

But I've been cleaning and organizing like a crazy person.  What's worse, Blake just informed me that in order to get the first-time-homebuyers tax credit we filed for, we'll have to live here for at least another two years!  That's not a bad thing at all - I like our little duplex a lot - but this new information makes me want to nest.  Seriously, I'm about to have a baby in a few weeks and I'm thinking about what color I want to paint the bathroom.  Yes, I know I sound like a crazy pregnant lady. 

While I am making progress on many areas of the house (like organizing the out-of-season clothing I had strewn all across Blake's office-turned-storage room), I still feel like there's so much to do before Lacey comes.  We still have to buy a new car seat for Isabelle.  We need to set up the changing station.  We need to set up the co-sleeper, which is currently at Blake's mother's house so Isabelle can nap there.  I need to wash and organize all the little newborn clothes.  I need to start packing my labor bag, hospital bag, Lacey's hospital bag, and Isabelle's overnight bag for when she goes to her Mi-Mi's house.  Blake, however, can pack his own bag - I've got enough to do.

Tonight, I started having contractions.  I'm calling it false labor because they're very irregular, sometimes intense but not painful, and I'm not having any other signs of labor.  But I think it was enough to make us all realize that as I'm full-term, I can go into labor anytime, and we need to be prepared.  Blake has removed the box spring from my nest (something that's been bothering me for weeks), and he's promised to hang the blinds and the shelves tomorrow.  The newborn baby clothes and blankets are in the dryer, and tomorrow I'm going to start packing what I can in my hospital bag.

For now, I'm going to take a warm bath and hopefully get some rest tonight.  I promise to keep everyone updated when the time comes that I am in actual labor.

My First Night Apart from Isabelle

So Friday, Blake's dad offered us some LSU football tickets for Saturday's game against West Virginia!  We really wanted to go, but what to do with the munchkin?  It was an 8:00 game, so bringing her with us wasn't going to happen.  We decided to leave her at Blake's parents' house with Mrs. Michelle and Catherine.  Overnight.  For the first time.  Ever.

Maybe it's not a big deal for those of you who are experienced parents, but being away from her for an entire day and night was a big deal for me.   I guess part of it was that I felt guilty - like I was dumping her off on Blake's mom so we could go have fun and enjoy the football game.  But the reality of our situation is that leaving Isabelle for a night is inevitable.  With Lacey's due date quickly approaching (I'll be considered full-term only 4 weeks from today!!), I'm going to have to get used to the idea of leaving Isabelle for a little while.  So this Saturday was good practice for both of us. 

God Must Read My Blog

It's funny how right after I write a big blog post venting about how difficult my life has been, I have a really good day.

Last night was rough.  I was hurting, coughing, had a headache, and terrible heartburn.  I didn't sleep well at all, and when the munchkin woke up at 7:30 in the morning, I thought it was going to be a rough day. 

But it wasn't.  I had decided not to push myself to do any housework so that I could rest and take care of Isabelle and myself.  But for some reason, I had a good, steady supply of energy.  So I took care of the baby and did a good deal of housework.  Isabelle was so good today - she was playing by herself in her Jenny Jump while I was cleaning the kitchen, and fell asleep in it!  It was SO cute.  After I put her to bed, she took a good nap while I did more housework and got ready to go swimming.  We got to Maw-Maw's late this afternoon and went swimming with Gregory and Ariel, later joined by Blake, Catherine, and Ethan.  Maw-Maw had baked chicken with vegetables for dinner, and pie with ice cream for dessert!  We had a great time!

Taking Life One Day at a Time

Well I guess I haven't updated in a while because I feel like I've got nothing to say.  But here are a few things going on in my life:

T.M.I. alert - If you're not comfortable reading about how my pregnancy is affecting certain bodily functions, I advise you to skip this post.  But really, it's not THAT gross.  ;o)

1.  I've had a cough for about a week now, and I can NOT get rid of it.  No sickness, no fever, no stuffy nose.  Just a cough.  (And for a woman who is 8 months pregnant with a baby sitting on her bladder 24/7, this means that I have to wear pantyliners.  Just in case.  And most days, I'm glad I did.)

2.  Which brings me to my next point.  I have to pee every 5 seconds.  Okay, seriously?  I feel like my bladder has the capacity of a teaspoon right now.  I can go to the bathroom, empty my bladder, and then just mere minutes later, have to go again.  If I wasn't so busy chasing after Isabelle all day, I might just move into the bathroom for these next few months.  I have a good deal of counter space, so I could bring my phone, laptop, some dvds, snacks, etc.  It could be nice.

We Have a Name!

Well Blake and I have a little announcement: We've finally reached a decision on Baby Bean's name!

Update on Baby Bean (and Ultrasound Pics!)

Here are some ultrasound pictures of our sweet little Baby Bean!

I was only 6 weeks pregnant when we did this first ultrasound, so you can't see much.  The black spot is the amniotic sac, and the little speck in the upper-right-hand part of the sac is the baby!  Even though I was only 6 weeks along, we could still see a little heartbeat!

Pregnancy Update

I haven't written too much about my pregnancy this time around for a couple of reasons.  I haven't been feeling well at all lately, and I don't think it would make for a very interesting blog if I got on here and whined about it every day.  Without going into details of my various sufferings (some of them are quite embarrassing and personal), I will say that it's been a rough pregnancy so far.  It's almost like the endless first trimester.  I'm still getting sick several times a week, and I'm constantly exhausted. 

It's a...huh??

Sorry I haven't had a chance to update in a few weeks.  I've been really busy!  And since I don't remember every single detail of the past few weeks, I'll just write about the biggest highlight:  We found out if little Baby Bean is a boy or girl!!

We wanted to make it special, so here's what we did:  We scheduled a 3D ultrasound with Angel Prints in Lafayette, and got to see our little Baby Bean!  It was SO amazing getting to see the baby on the big screen, knowing that we made this little one!  The baby was really tiny (I was only 17 weeks along), but we could see that it was completely formed - what a miracle!  The baby was just hanging out, probably sleeping, with its legs crossed and cuddling up to the placenta, using it as a pillow!  SO cute!!

I declare a "Pajama Day"

Saturday was not a good day.  I woke up to a head-splitting migraine that would NOT go away.  You know how you get those headaches that hurt like crazy every time you move?  This was one of those.  And I did take some Tylenol, but it didn't work at all. 

My hormones were also going crazy - I suspect they had a part in my headache, I wasn't able to keep my breakfast down, and I had a little emotional breakdown when Blake was leaving to go play paintball with the guys.  Blake doesn't do too many "guy activities," but I swear, when he does, he has the worst timing, lol! 

Baby Bean's Heartbeat!

Yesterday I had an appointment with my obstetrician, Dr. Hardey.  I'm 11 weeks along, and it was just a "belly check" appointment, which means you go in and they check your weight, protein levels, blood pressure, and the baby's heartbeat.  It gets pretty routine towards the end of pregnancy, but the first one is always very special because you get to hear your baby's precious heartbeat for the first time!  Dr. Hardey said it was a great little heartbeat, and it was so amazing to hear it!  Baby Bean's heart has actually been beating since week 5 of my pregnancy, and we got to see it on the ultrasound we did at 6 weeks.  But this is the first time we've actually heard it on the Doppler.