Done and Done

Guess what? I have my Christmas cards printed, in addressed envelopes and stamped. I have a little gift for some family members ready to mail as well. I made an extra set of mailing labels for the birth announcements so that they'll actually go out soon after the birth. Feeling pretty ahead of the game. Yes, I know using mailing labels is "cheating" or "tacky" but it's either that or people get nothin'. Take your pick!

All is still well with the belly. The ultrasound on Wednesday shows Emily is about 5 lbs and will most likely be 7-7.5lbs when she's born. Just like her sister! Plenty of fluid and still head down. No signs of progress for labor but I'm OK with that since I'm only 36 weeks. Right now she has hiccups which is one of my least favorite feelings of pregnancy. I know I'll miss it when she's out here in the real world.

Weekend To Remember

If you've ever considered going to marriage counseling, a marriage conference or just want to work on your marriage - I highly recommend "Weekend to Remember" by Family Life. Mark and I just got back from one in SA this weekend. It is Christian based marriage advice with a strong emphasis on the Bible and God. Most of it will not be of use to you if you don't believe in God. I will admit that I am not a strongly religious person and my faith is constantly being tested. However, I still feel it gave excellent advice on how to strengthen our marriage and actually helped to strengthen my beliefs.


There are individual parts that you work on and discuss later with your husband. Honestly in looking at the "projects" I feared that there would be A LOT of eye rolling and resistance. I was very surprised by how open he was with me and how much we were able to "get out". Many of the things we talked about will be especially helpful after the new baby is here.

It remains to be seen how much this actually helps our marriage but I feel it's a good start. Definitely better than the direction I felt we were going... If the conference sounds like too much for you right now or just too expensive, there are many books recommended on the Family Life website that might be of interest to you. Of course they sell them at the conference (everyone has to make money right!?) but I plan to look for a few of them at Half Price Books.

Got Clothes?

I worked last night and one of the OB's reminded me of what to expect as a 2nd time mom. I was asking if they had worked out the Holiday schedule yet for OB. He commented that many 2nd time moms deliver closer to 36-38 weeks. Uhhhh.... that's only 2-4 weeks away! I haven't even washed her "coming home outfit" ! I woke up around 2pm today and began to go through my stash.

When I first found out I was pregnant with another girl I thought "Oh good, I can use all those clothes again!" News Flash... Abby was born in August. This baby is due in December. See the problem here? Lucky for me my friend Mar's daughter was born just after Abby in November 07 and she is generously loaning us her daughters wardrobe. There are 4 columns of clothes, NB, 3M,6M and Misc. The biggest pile is across the top row (onesies) is the 3M ones. Counted those - 38. Wow. Important to note that I have 3 more boxes of just Abby's clothes for 9M & 12M. I probably need another 3 to store Abby's clothes for the last year of 18M and 24M/2T. I don't know how this happened!! Gifts and plenty of clearance/coupon shopping at discount places like Once Upon a Child and Rock A Bye Baby.

Problem #1 solved. Problem #2 - where to put all these clothes I'm washing! We don't have a nursery for Emily. We didn't have one for Abby until we moved into this house when she was 8 months old either. We're trying to decide if we're going to keep Abby in her room or move her to the front room. Abby's closet isn't full but I really like the way I have it organized and don't want to cram too much else in there. It might be our only choice in the short term.

Belly pictures!

I'll be 34 weeks tomorrow. I still struggled a lot with nausea today and threw up once, but having Abby there to cheer me on makes it tolerable. She stands behind me saying something I really don't understand but sounds rather reassuring and keeps one hand on my shoulder. When I'm done she throw her arms up and cheers "Did it!" That's also how she celebrates when she does something on her own. Not sure how that applies to vomit but I'll take it. Of course her real motivation is that she wants to flush the toilet for me. On a happier note! Here's a picture of us at a playgroup at Central Market today. The weather was just beautiful.

I feel a lot bigger than I look. I think I was holding my posture to support my 28 pound toddler and therefore "sucking it in". So here's one where I'm letting it all hang out.

As for my thyroid issue, my labs were not normal. However, it's not a threat to the pregnancy. My levels show a subclinical (ie, mild) hyperthyroid issue. This would explain my rapid postpartum weight loss with Abby, my insomnia and persistant nausea. It's probably part of my problem now but it's difficult to tell those apart from normal third trimester pregnancy complains. I need a radioactive test to evaluate for Graves Disease. Ideally this will take place 4-6 months after the baby is born. I will either need to be done breastfeeding, which is possible, or "pump and dump" for 3 days.

Little Updates

Abby had a great Halloween! We just went to a few neighbors' houses to say hello. She never would say "Trick or Treat" but did say "Thank You" after getting her candy. I didn't have the energy to come up with a costume so a black maternity top is about as festive as I got. Important to note that this is only the 3rd time Abby has let me put her hair up.

Let's see. Updates! Mark has started a new job with better pay and better hours. It doesn't get much better than that in the I/T world! The downside is that it's pretty far south near Bee Caves. I give him 1 year before he starts asking if we can move to reduce his commute.

As for me, still rocking the ER but only part-time now. Even with the pregnancy, I could have continued to work my 3 days a week but 2 has allowed me to get Abby in a pretty sweet  2 day a week preschool. I feel much better knowing she is actively working on things instead of just being watched. She is thriving and growing in leaps and bounds. And of course it's $160 a month instead of $650!

I'm 33 weeks along with our 2nd daughter. I had morning sickness early on but nothing as bad as what I had with Abby. I continue to have pretty bad acid reflux, but I do even when I'm not pregnant. With my gluten free diet and reflux I have struggled with gaining enough weight. I'm the exact weight I was with Abby at 33 weeks but look just a tad smaller based on pictures. Our very tentative name is Emily Frances and she's due to make her appearance Dec 19th or 22nd depending on if you trust dates or ultrasound. When people ask I just say "The week of Christmas".

As with Abby, I had an early miscarriage in February that preceded this success . However, I'm absolutely of the "what's meant to be" camp and everything has progressed wonderfully this time around. I had complete RPL or "Repeat Pregnancy Loss" testing done as it was my 3rd miscarriage. It came up largely negative but  I am being monitored for possible low thyroid issues and I have a follow up appt today.