When Ryan was born he stayed in newborn sized clothing about 2 weeks longer than I had anticipated and the same applied to his 0-3 month clothing on so on. Still, even as he is nearing 30 months, he can wear some of his 18 month clothes. He's always been on the tiny side, except when he was born. 8lbs, 6oz is not exactly tiny. I was going through baby clothes the other day and I held a newborn sleeper up to Ryan's body and I couldn't believe how small that outfit was against him. Anyway, the point is I have been through 30 months of packing up small clothes. I always get a little sad when I pack up his clothes, but at the same time it always excites me to see what I have for him to wear in the next size. The sadness never really lasts very long. Obviously children grow, develop, learn new things, become more independent, etc. etc. etc. HOWEVER, this morning I was smacked (very hard) in the face with the fact that my baby is no longer a baby. Yesterday Ryan *told* Brett he was wearing big boy underwear to school. Brett allowed it. It was a good move. He did well through lunch and afternoon nap, but then had an accident on the playground and moved back into a pullup but kept it dry for the rest of the day. Fast forward to this morning and Ryan (Brett had to be at work early, so I was on morning duty this morning.) told me, "I wanna wear big boy underwear to school." Ok, cool. This is good. We're making progress! The next thing though took me quite off guard and this is where the smacked in the face reference comes into play. "I wanna pick out my shirt," he says. WHAT?! Since when do you pick out your clothes?
Don't get me wrong. I want my boys to be strong, independent, capable men with good values who can and will do for themselves and love others and God. I do not want to be the mother that makes her 16-year-old's bed every day or puts away his clothes. My boys will be equal opportunity men. They will know how to do laundry and vacuum as well as change a tire or build a deck. But for crying out loud, he's only TWO! Wanting to wear underwear and pick out his own clothes all in the same morning is a little overwhelming for me - the hormonal, exceptionally emotional pregnant mommy who loves her little boy to absolute pieces. Maybe when I am no longer pregnant I will come back and read this and laugh. But, for the time being, I hope I have some empathy from my fellow mommies.
When we found out that "Monster" is a boy I was told by a mother of 2 boys that I was a lucky woman. She said I was lucky because boys love their mama's forever. Not that girls don't, but it is a different kind. I already knew I was lucky to have a son when Ryan was born. Now I consider myself to have hit the jackpot twice, but of course not without some help from above!
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Sometimes the grass *IS* greener on the other side.
I'm 25 weeks today and I had my first appointment with my new OB. It still hasn't been determined if my company is going to switch insurance carriers, but I figured I wouldn't wait around to be screwed in the end and switched to a new OB who accepted my current insurance carrier as well as the one the company is "shopping." I was dreading the switch. Switching docs half-way through my pregnancy is not something I ever wanted to experience. I had a WONDERFUL team of doctors and nurses when I was pregnant with Ryan. With this pregnancy, I really liked the docs at the old place but I despise the nursing staff and the front desk staff. When I went in to the new office today, I was greeted with a smile and awesome customer service. Everyone, the receptionist, the insurance lady, the nurse, they were all amazing. Then I met the doctor. HOLY COW he was more than amazing! He's laid back, slightly conservative and really takes the time to talk with his patients. I'm so glad I switched. I wish I had followed my gut and switched a long time ago, but oh well.
So I had all the normal stuff done... pee was normal, bp was good, Monster's heartbeat was 147 and I'm up to 147lbs. This weight thing bothers me. I need to pay more attention to what I'm eating and drinking. With Ryan I got up to 152 or 153 I think. I'm definitely going to pass that. As long as I can keep it under 35lbs I'm good. I have 15 weeks left... that means I'm allowed to gain 15 more pounds. THAT'S IT!!!!!! Doc also said that I should expect to be "more on time" this time around. As in, this child will more than likely not take after his brother and be evicted. Oh how wonderful that would be! However, I think it may be wishful thinking and I do not plan on getting my hopes up. My Mama had to be induced with both me and my brother. I'm convinced I have taken after her. Nonetheless, this little boy has until September 14th and he will be evicted. (That would be 1 week after my due date.) I was also told to possibly expect a bigger baby. UGH! Ryan was 8lbs 6oz. Do I really want a bigger baby that him? I think NOT! That's where the 1lb per week weight gain from here on out comes in to play.
Monster is a strong little booger. Last night while I was cooking dinner, I seriously thought his foot was going to come through my belly button. He was kicking like a mad man! He likes the same spot up under my ribs on the right side that Ryan did. It's cool, yet slightly annoying. Also, today when the nurse was listening to his heartbeat on the doppler, he kicked her away several times. I think we might be in for it, huh? :)
So I had all the normal stuff done... pee was normal, bp was good, Monster's heartbeat was 147 and I'm up to 147lbs. This weight thing bothers me. I need to pay more attention to what I'm eating and drinking. With Ryan I got up to 152 or 153 I think. I'm definitely going to pass that. As long as I can keep it under 35lbs I'm good. I have 15 weeks left... that means I'm allowed to gain 15 more pounds. THAT'S IT!!!!!! Doc also said that I should expect to be "more on time" this time around. As in, this child will more than likely not take after his brother and be evicted. Oh how wonderful that would be! However, I think it may be wishful thinking and I do not plan on getting my hopes up. My Mama had to be induced with both me and my brother. I'm convinced I have taken after her. Nonetheless, this little boy has until September 14th and he will be evicted. (That would be 1 week after my due date.) I was also told to possibly expect a bigger baby. UGH! Ryan was 8lbs 6oz. Do I really want a bigger baby that him? I think NOT! That's where the 1lb per week weight gain from here on out comes in to play.
Monster is a strong little booger. Last night while I was cooking dinner, I seriously thought his foot was going to come through my belly button. He was kicking like a mad man! He likes the same spot up under my ribs on the right side that Ryan did. It's cool, yet slightly annoying. Also, today when the nurse was listening to his heartbeat on the doppler, he kicked her away several times. I think we might be in for it, huh? :)
Monday, May 24, 2010
Fun weekend pictures
Some say I don't include many details of "Monster" in my blog... Well, here he is... *Thank you Deddy for taking his picture!* :)
Ryan is not short changed on pictures by any stretch of the imagination. But, I have a really bad habit of taking these awesome pictures of him and never printing and framing them. We have pictures of him all over our house, but they are old. I'm determined that it will change! I have a beautiful 3-picture frame with 2 vertical 5x7's and 1 horizontal 8x10 between them hanging in our living room. I'm going to print these three out and replace the older pictures. I'll keep you posted with an update!
Ryan is not short changed on pictures by any stretch of the imagination. But, I have a really bad habit of taking these awesome pictures of him and never printing and framing them. We have pictures of him all over our house, but they are old. I'm determined that it will change! I have a beautiful 3-picture frame with 2 vertical 5x7's and 1 horizontal 8x10 between them hanging in our living room. I'm going to print these three out and replace the older pictures. I'll keep you posted with an update!
Ryanisms
Ryan and I left Brett and the dogs this weekend and headed to the beach! We missed Brett, but he belonged to Highland CC this weekend so I figured we might as well go on and enjoy ourselves. So, we went with Mama, Deddy, Mimi, Michael & Laura (Michael's gf) to our little place in Salter Path, NC (on the same island and between Emerald Isle & Atlantic Beach).
We had a fantastic time, but I can't help but think ahead to this time next year. Member-guest week at Highland CC will be the same and I will more than likely, once again, be heading to the beach with an 8 month old and a 3 year old. The difference between now and then?... hopefully, that three year old will be fully potty trained!
This weekend was full of "Ryanisms". Maybe it's just because he's my child, but I think he is absolutely hilarious.
Ryanism #1: I wanna pee in the dirt!
Mind you, we have been full blown potty training for about a week now. As we were driving down there on Friday afternoon, he says "Mommy, I got to potty. I wanna pee in the dirt." The effects of one paniced pee pee adventure are awesome. Back story - The other day, he and I were on the way home to Fayetteville. We were traveling on I-40 when he said he had to potty. So, of course, I was not going to pass this WONDERFUL opportunity up, so I pulled off at the next rest area. I still haven't fully prepared myself for him to use a nasty public rest stop bathroom. My germophobic fears resulted in me pulling to the very back of the parking lot and allowing him to drop his pants behind the jeep and pee right there in the grass. At the time, I subconsciously knew that I was probably setting myself up for numerous requests to "pee in the dirt," but I wasn't focused on that. I was tied up with the fact that my wonderfully smart 2 year old had just asked me to stop so he could pee in something else besides his pull up. I was thrilled!
Ryanism #2 - M&M Rewards for DeeDee
Also has to do with the potty.) Different potty training tactics work for different children. I first tried stickers with Ryan. He wasn't impressed. So, after watching a SuperNanny episode and learning the M&M technique, I decided to move on to that. It works! Ryan gets 1 M&M for going pee in the potty and 2 M&Ms for going poopy in the potty. Over the weekend, my Deddy came out of the bathroom in front of Ryan. Ryan then turned around, clapped and said "Yayyyyyyy DeeDee! Wanna M&M?" I couldn't contain my laughter!
Ryanism #3 - Ice the nose
Saturday evening my Mimi, my Deddy and I were sitting on the deck of the trailer talking. Ryan was playing with his new dump truck I just bought him that morning. Unfortunately, he lost his balance on the side of the deck and fell, nose-first into the deck. Let the record show that my son has had his first bloody nose. Sorry to say, I'm sure it won't be his last. Anyway, I take him inside to comfort him. Deddy grabs a bag of ice, Mama grabs a wet wash cloth and after about 5 minutes of screaming (boo boos on the nose HURT!) I get him calmed down enough to try and comfort him and wipe the blood off his face, my shirt and everywhere else (boo boos on the nose = lots of blood). I tried to show him that the bag of ice wrapped inside the wash cloth and placed on his nose will help him feel better. So, what does Ryan do? He unwraps the wash cloth from the bag and hands it to me, then unzips the bag and takes a piece of ice out and places it on his nose. He's a funny thing!
We had a fantastic time, but I can't help but think ahead to this time next year. Member-guest week at Highland CC will be the same and I will more than likely, once again, be heading to the beach with an 8 month old and a 3 year old. The difference between now and then?... hopefully, that three year old will be fully potty trained!
This weekend was full of "Ryanisms". Maybe it's just because he's my child, but I think he is absolutely hilarious.
Ryanism #1: I wanna pee in the dirt!
Mind you, we have been full blown potty training for about a week now. As we were driving down there on Friday afternoon, he says "Mommy, I got to potty. I wanna pee in the dirt." The effects of one paniced pee pee adventure are awesome. Back story - The other day, he and I were on the way home to Fayetteville. We were traveling on I-40 when he said he had to potty. So, of course, I was not going to pass this WONDERFUL opportunity up, so I pulled off at the next rest area. I still haven't fully prepared myself for him to use a nasty public rest stop bathroom. My germophobic fears resulted in me pulling to the very back of the parking lot and allowing him to drop his pants behind the jeep and pee right there in the grass. At the time, I subconsciously knew that I was probably setting myself up for numerous requests to "pee in the dirt," but I wasn't focused on that. I was tied up with the fact that my wonderfully smart 2 year old had just asked me to stop so he could pee in something else besides his pull up. I was thrilled!
Ryanism #2 - M&M Rewards for DeeDee
Also has to do with the potty.) Different potty training tactics work for different children. I first tried stickers with Ryan. He wasn't impressed. So, after watching a SuperNanny episode and learning the M&M technique, I decided to move on to that. It works! Ryan gets 1 M&M for going pee in the potty and 2 M&Ms for going poopy in the potty. Over the weekend, my Deddy came out of the bathroom in front of Ryan. Ryan then turned around, clapped and said "Yayyyyyyy DeeDee! Wanna M&M?" I couldn't contain my laughter!
Ryanism #3 - Ice the nose
Saturday evening my Mimi, my Deddy and I were sitting on the deck of the trailer talking. Ryan was playing with his new dump truck I just bought him that morning. Unfortunately, he lost his balance on the side of the deck and fell, nose-first into the deck. Let the record show that my son has had his first bloody nose. Sorry to say, I'm sure it won't be his last. Anyway, I take him inside to comfort him. Deddy grabs a bag of ice, Mama grabs a wet wash cloth and after about 5 minutes of screaming (boo boos on the nose HURT!) I get him calmed down enough to try and comfort him and wipe the blood off his face, my shirt and everywhere else (boo boos on the nose = lots of blood). I tried to show him that the bag of ice wrapped inside the wash cloth and placed on his nose will help him feel better. So, what does Ryan do? He unwraps the wash cloth from the bag and hands it to me, then unzips the bag and takes a piece of ice out and places it on his nose. He's a funny thing!
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
24 week belly shots
I took these this evening right after my massage and before I went out with the girls. I need to go back and look at my belly shots from Ryan and see if I'm still carrying differently.
No title -
I'm 24 weeks today! Wow, time has flown! 112 days left until I reach 40 weeks. 13 days left until I reach freak-out mode. I'm sure that 112 days will turn in to 113, 114, 115 days and so on until I reach 41 weeks. I keep telling myself that in hopes that "Monster" will decide to show his face a few days early. A week or 2 early would be quite nice actually.
This week is hell week for Brett, otherwise known as the annual member-guest tournament at his country club. He will receive the biggest paycheck of the year and more than half of it will be overtime that he's pulled this week, working ridiculous 7am - 10pm shifts all to guarantee absolute perfection over the course of 3 days. The money is nice but I will miss my husband and Ryan will miss his Daddy. Unfortunately for him, we will not stick around for the chaos! Ryan and I are off the the beach! I wish we could leave on Thursday evening, but due to a very exciting teambuilding outing I have on Friday, we can't leave until Friday afternoon. Get this...my department at work (4 females, 1 male) is going to the Ft. Bragg Clay Target Center to experience skeet shooting. Imagine, if you will, a hormonal pregnant chick out there with a shotgun. Hmmmmmm... Need I say more? When I told Brett about this adventure, his eyeballs almost popped out of his head. No words were needed.
This is also an exciting week for us. Brett has just launched a new business here in Fayetteville using 3D motion analysis to teach golf lessons. He's teamed up with a local fitness club and will be giving lessons to his country club members as well as the public! I'm excited, he's excited! It's an awesome experience that has just sort of fallen in to place nicely. I have faith that it will be successful! Not to brag, but Brett is very good at what he does. He has a way with his students and he's just awesome. I'm so proud of him! There is a plan for us and I'm confident that we are finally on the right road towards fulfilling that plan. We just had to get back to Fayetteville to do it, with a few stops along the way. :)
As for me and the pregnancy...I'm doing great. This pregnancy has taken some time to get used to, but after 24 weeks I think I've finally settled with the idea that it is going to be different that my pregnancy with Ryan but I'm going to be ok. My mood swings have settled down and I think my hormones have leveled off a little bit. Note - I said *a little bit*. Maybe it's because last week was so stressful, but the past 4 days have been easy-going. I was supposed to have a prenatal massage and facial on Friday. However, 2 hours prior to my so-desperately-needed appointment, the manager of the spa called and said the massage girl had to leave and my massage was cancelled. I was angry, upset, and a lot of other words. I actually cried. That woman had no idea what kind of week I had, nor did she know how badly I had been wanting that massage. Not only that, but she was rude about it. But, my wonderful husband made it all better and gave me the best massage I've ever had on Sunday night. Plus, I get another one this afternoon at a different spa! I'm a lucky woman!
This week is hell week for Brett, otherwise known as the annual member-guest tournament at his country club. He will receive the biggest paycheck of the year and more than half of it will be overtime that he's pulled this week, working ridiculous 7am - 10pm shifts all to guarantee absolute perfection over the course of 3 days. The money is nice but I will miss my husband and Ryan will miss his Daddy. Unfortunately for him, we will not stick around for the chaos! Ryan and I are off the the beach! I wish we could leave on Thursday evening, but due to a very exciting teambuilding outing I have on Friday, we can't leave until Friday afternoon. Get this...my department at work (4 females, 1 male) is going to the Ft. Bragg Clay Target Center to experience skeet shooting. Imagine, if you will, a hormonal pregnant chick out there with a shotgun. Hmmmmmm... Need I say more? When I told Brett about this adventure, his eyeballs almost popped out of his head. No words were needed.
This is also an exciting week for us. Brett has just launched a new business here in Fayetteville using 3D motion analysis to teach golf lessons. He's teamed up with a local fitness club and will be giving lessons to his country club members as well as the public! I'm excited, he's excited! It's an awesome experience that has just sort of fallen in to place nicely. I have faith that it will be successful! Not to brag, but Brett is very good at what he does. He has a way with his students and he's just awesome. I'm so proud of him! There is a plan for us and I'm confident that we are finally on the right road towards fulfilling that plan. We just had to get back to Fayetteville to do it, with a few stops along the way. :)
As for me and the pregnancy...I'm doing great. This pregnancy has taken some time to get used to, but after 24 weeks I think I've finally settled with the idea that it is going to be different that my pregnancy with Ryan but I'm going to be ok. My mood swings have settled down and I think my hormones have leveled off a little bit. Note - I said *a little bit*. Maybe it's because last week was so stressful, but the past 4 days have been easy-going. I was supposed to have a prenatal massage and facial on Friday. However, 2 hours prior to my so-desperately-needed appointment, the manager of the spa called and said the massage girl had to leave and my massage was cancelled. I was angry, upset, and a lot of other words. I actually cried. That woman had no idea what kind of week I had, nor did she know how badly I had been wanting that massage. Not only that, but she was rude about it. But, my wonderful husband made it all better and gave me the best massage I've ever had on Sunday night. Plus, I get another one this afternoon at a different spa! I'm a lucky woman!
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
HSIOW
Today is Wednesday, and Wednesday is beating my arse! Hence the HSIOW title of this entry...adopted from a friend of mine, HSIOW stands for "Holy Shit It's Only Wednesday." From the time I got up this morning until now, I've been smacked with "problem" after "problem." I use quotes since my problems are relative. Nonetheless...I was not prepared to find a new obstetrician today. And why? Oh, that's the easy part. My employer has decided that our current insurance carrier charges too much, therefore, we will be switching to THE ONLY insurance carrier that my current OBGYN DOES NOT accept. Not only that, but I'm 23 weeks and 1 day; 3 weeks and 1 day farther along then the cut off for most OBGYN offices in this area to accept new patients. Add a couple small fires that started today that have to do with the program I run and needless to say, I'm a little edgy today.
However, with all that said, I had my monthly appointment today. Baby Monster is looking great. I am now 143lbs. EEK!!! That would be a grand total of 17 lbs gained during this pregnancy. When I voiced my concern to my nurse, she looked at me as if I had 10 heads and told me I was perfect. "Ashleigh, Ashleigh, Ashleigh, " she said. "I could only dream of being 143lbs NOT pregnant! When you get to be the size of an elephant, we'll stop you, but for now, you're perfect!" For the record, I gained about 27lbs with Ryan. So I'm trying to stay right around there. I have 17 weeks to go. I h ave a feeling that I'm going to go over 27lbs.
As for everything else...My pee was good, my bp was 104/something...(normal for me), she measured my fundal height and said that was right on schedule, and last but certainly not least, Monster's heartbeat was absolutely beautiful and in the 130s.
My next appointment is scheduled for June 10th, but since I'm having to switch docs, I would imagine that it will change. I guess it is a blessing in disguise that we are switching insurance carriers. I really really love the doctors at my office, however, the nursing staff and the office staff really leave something to be desired. They are rude, never smile, some rarely make eye contact, they are slow. And as far as I'm concerned, I can love the doctors all day long, but if the nursing staff sucks, then you're positive experience goes out the window. Hopefully the switch will be worth the stress and anxiety that I'm feeling right now.
However, with all that said, I had my monthly appointment today. Baby Monster is looking great. I am now 143lbs. EEK!!! That would be a grand total of 17 lbs gained during this pregnancy. When I voiced my concern to my nurse, she looked at me as if I had 10 heads and told me I was perfect. "Ashleigh, Ashleigh, Ashleigh, " she said. "I could only dream of being 143lbs NOT pregnant! When you get to be the size of an elephant, we'll stop you, but for now, you're perfect!" For the record, I gained about 27lbs with Ryan. So I'm trying to stay right around there. I have 17 weeks to go. I h ave a feeling that I'm going to go over 27lbs.
As for everything else...My pee was good, my bp was 104/something...(normal for me), she measured my fundal height and said that was right on schedule, and last but certainly not least, Monster's heartbeat was absolutely beautiful and in the 130s.
My next appointment is scheduled for June 10th, but since I'm having to switch docs, I would imagine that it will change. I guess it is a blessing in disguise that we are switching insurance carriers. I really really love the doctors at my office, however, the nursing staff and the office staff really leave something to be desired. They are rude, never smile, some rarely make eye contact, they are slow. And as far as I'm concerned, I can love the doctors all day long, but if the nursing staff sucks, then you're positive experience goes out the window. Hopefully the switch will be worth the stress and anxiety that I'm feeling right now.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)