God bless the timer!

Today I am 16 weeks!! YAY!!! It's been a while since I've posted anything. My apologies. Last week was a bit crazy with 2 doctors appointments (pg appt for me, and an ear tube follow-up for Ryan), a crazy work schedule, and we introduced a new discipline technique with Ryan that has absolutely WORKED WONDERS for us! Plus, it was absolutely beautiful outside this past weekend... who wants to sit inside and blog? NOT I!

So, here is the preggo update. Last Tuesday I went to the doctor for a normal visit. Everything looked great. I was pleasantly surprised that I'd only gained 4 pounds since the last visit, so I think that's 6 pounds total. It's a wonder though with all the crap I've been craving and eating. I thought surely I was going to go in and get lectured for gaining too much weight. I pee'd in a cup, that was normal. My blood preasure was 122/80-something... a little high for me, but no worries. And Baby Peanut's heartbeat was in the 160s. Dr. couldn't get him/her to stay still long enough to get a perfect heart rate. Peanut is definitely a wiggle worm in there. I've been feeling movements for a little over a week now and they get stronger daily. I can't wait until I'm able to actually play with him/her like I did with Ryan when he was in my belly. I'd poke and he'd kick back. I'd push and he'd do a flip. That is my favorite part of pregnancy... actually, I think that is the ONLY part of pregnancy I do enjoy. Well, maybe I'll add "special treatment" to the list. Side story - We were at an engagement party for our dear friends, Patrick & Susan, 2 Saturdays ago. The party was at a local restaurant and we had an appetizer buffet-type spread. Everything was absolutely delish, but Peanut and I wanted a big ole salad! Well, that was around 10:15pm and the kitchen was closed, but the fantastic server we had ran back and got be a salad after Susan rubbed by belly and said "The baby wants a salad!" I was thrilled! It was huge and I ate the whole thing! So good.

Ok, back to the appointment. I told the doc about my sciatic nerve pain again. Oh, it's horrid! She said to wear tennis shoes or flats. No heels. Oh dear! I have a few cute flats, but I wear by boots (with heels) on a daily basis! Especially in the winter. So... tennis shoes it is. Except yesterday I just couldn't do it. They looked beyond terrible with the outfit I had chosen to wear and I had a meeting outside of the office, so I went with the heels and oh, did I pay for it last night! Ouch! Today the tennis shoes went back on. I will deal with the ugliness on my feet and the old arthritic woman feel. Comfort and painlessness (is that a word?) is the goal at this point.

Also, Baby Peanut will finally reveal it's anatomical "goods" next month. Our "BIG" ultrasound is scheduled for April 13th at 8:30am. So... if you have a guess, get it in! You can vote for boy or girl on the left side of the blog. I'm starting to get a feeling, but I'll keep it to myself. :) For the record, the wives tales are pointing towards girl. The Chinese calender says boy.

As for Ryan, earlier I mentioned a new discipline technique that has worked wonders for all of us. Well, the famed little plastic and metal device has saved him AND ME from a lot of tears and has saved Brett from high blood pressure! It's a kitchen timer. Who'da thought a kitchen timer of all things would be the most effective tool in a parent's collection? Better than time-out, better than bribery, better than sweet tea (his favorite)! Ryan began throwing tantrums out of no where about 3 weeks ago. They were centered around diaper changes (prior to moving on to pullups), bathtime and putting his clothes on in the morning. He simply did not want to stop whatever he was doing and he would yell, kick, scream, spit, hit, cry, roll over... you name it (except biting), he did it. It was horrific to watch, especially from a pregnant & hormonal mother's point of view. I wanted to cry, kick, scream, hit and punch right there along with him. But, I'd wait until I was alone to do that! :) But seriously, it brought me to tears and I know Brett was ready to pull his hair out. This lasted for about a week and a half. Then I remembered a mother on one of the parenting message boards I am a member of used a kitchen timer to remind her son it was time to get out of the bathtub. Otherwise, he'd stay in there until he was shrivled up like a prune. So I decided to take it a step further and set it for each transition time. Breakfast to changing clothes in the morning, Playtime to pullup/potty time, dinner to bath time, bath time to end of bath time. And now we've started using it at each potty time too. After using it for a week, I've noticed that we can get away with not using it every once in a while. We haven't had a temper tantrum since we started using the thing. It is beyond me, and I don't have a clue why it works. But oh what a sanity saver for all of us!

Well, I best get back to work. :) I have a few belly pictures I'll post. They are progression pictures. I was going to take one this morning, but I ran out of time. So, these are 13 weeks, 4 days (light purple shirt) and 15 weeks 2 days (dark purple shirt). So, not too far off from today. One of these days I'll get the nerve to show my belly. Right now it just looks like pale, white flab. :)

Enjoy!