A Growing Belly & Shrinking Hair!

Did I forget to say that I had my hair hacked off on Sunday?

I don't usually have long hair, but I had let it grow out for the last 2 years. Yup, I went 2 years without a single haircut. Sunday I had enough and had it cut off. 10 inches were donated to Locks of Love, and I probably lost another 2 inches or so after that with shaping. My head feels so much lighter!


And for comparison on the belly, the above is 20 weeks 6 days, below is 14 weeks 5 days:


We won't even delve into how horribly my skin is responding to pregnancy right now. It's pitiful.

So Much Going On!

I swear, I'm busier now than I was when I worked full time outside the house! Geez!

I did have a party my last day of work. I guess I'll always wonder if it was the result of my co-worker's nosing around. Not even everyone who works there heard about it, so it sounds like a last minute plan to me. Regardless, they let me party from 10AM until the end of the day (12:30PM) so at least I had an easy last day. I've already received my payout for accumulated sick/vacation time and am waiting on the finance board to okay the dispersal of my pension funds (the only way I can afford to stay home). It's done, it's over, and I'm glad I don't have to go there anymore!!!!

But we went out with a bang. We've been sick. Maggie had the puking bug over the weekend, and I have a killer head cold that won't quit. My head keeps getting clogged with snot. Yuck! So I've been pretty tired because of that.

Friday was 20 weeks and my big ultrasound. We weren't supposed to find out the gender, but once again, I was given a picture that basically reveals the gender if you know what to look for. Brian still doesn't know and I'm busting at the seams trying to keep from telling him. Regardless, I've been sworn to secrecy since we weren't supposed to know. Sorry, I can't tell you! But you can look at the pictures.






I can tell one thing. Apparently I'm growing a pirate baby. Perhaps the Jolly Roger.

Let's see... busy week. Monday actually wasn't bad. Tuesday Maggie had an appointment with a naturopath to see what we could do about her chronic fluid in her ears. She will be seeing the naturopath again next Thursday for dietary recommendations and the chiropractor in the practice next Monday for her initial consultation, as she has a vertebrae out of place in her neck which could be causing the ear issues. Wednesday I had my midwife appointment. Pretty uneventful. I met the 3rd of the 3 midwives and we basically just chatted and listened to the heartbeat. 150s. :) My next appointment is in 4 weeks. Today I had my first playgroup! Well, it was actually a mamas group for mamas in the area who are into Natural/Attachment Parenting and are also depressed. Nice combo, eh? In any case, it was nice to be around women my age with kids, for once in my life - and ones who understand where I'm coming from! I did have to drive 1 hour one way, but it's worth it. I'm going to try my best to stick to going to the meetings once a month. Tomorrow I have a TS party. Saturday we have swim lessons in the morning and my grandmother's birthday party in the evening. Sunday we have my MIL's boyfriend's birthday party in the evening. When will I actually SAH????

BTW, I'm poor now so take pity on me. ;) I've never had to budget for groceries before in my life... never had to plan meals... and you know what? This sucks! Especially when you're trying to eat a *healthy* diet. It's one thing to budget and be okay with eating Ramen. It's another when you try to cut out all artificial flavorings/colorings/preservatives and eat as much organic as possible. Guess I need to get my butt in gear with my business!!!!!

Lady of Leisure

I'm trying not to LOL as I type that.

But I am now officially a SAHM. Friday was my last day of work and today is the first day of work that I no longer had to go to. :) I didn't set my alarm, but Maggie had me up by 7:15AM anyway. Ah, 55 minutes more sleep is better than none!

So much to say, but I'm tired. And since she is napping, I think I will take one as well.

Start Your Engines!

Let the cleaning begin!!!!

Getting our tiny space organized again has been high on my list of wants. But with a total lack of energy, 2 jobs, and a feisty toddler on my hands, it just hasn't been done in a long time. I mean LONG time. So once I decided that I would become a SAHM, one of the things I began to look forward to was getting this place in order again. The only problem is, my cleaning moods are just that - moods. If I'm not in the mood to do it, it doesn't get done. And because I'm a bit of a perfectionist, if I know I don't have the time to get it all done and just the way I want it, I won't even start. Bad, I know.

Tonight, in spite of feeling rather lazy, I started tackling the kitchen. It could be the fact that I had to go upstairs to tell them that their shower was leaking into our apartment and she mentioned calling the landlord. Maybe I'm afraid he'll want to come in our apartment, see what a mess it is and ask us to leave. We're on a month to month basis and this worry is always at the back of my mind. Or maybe it's just that I'm finally ready to get some of it done. Or maybe it's that ole' "give it a try and you may like it" thing. You know, like how they tell bored wives who don't feel like doing the nasty with their dear hubbies anymore that if you give in every once in a while, you may start to like it and join in.

In any case, I started tackling the mound of crap on the kitchen table and before I knew it, the computer desk was organized as well. Granted, it's not perfect. I don't have enough room to put everything away and one of my big projects once I'm home is to do a major purging of the "stuff" which we have accumulated but really don't need. Regardless, I do feel much better about it... and a bit energized to keep going at it. But only a bit. ;)

Catching Up

It appears I've fallen behind, once again, in my blogging duties.

My illness that I last left you in suspense about culminated in several hours of vomiting and diarrhea overnight. What fun! Seriously, it was the pits. I was sure I'd end up at the hospital for dehydration.

In spite of my night-time "fun", I had my tour of the freestanding birthing center later that day - something I had planned for that day specifically since Brian would be home from work. So I did my best to make myself presentable, upped the fluids (though avoided the food still due to lingering nausea) and we drove on down to the birthing center. I LOVED it! Brian - well, he didn't have an opinion on the matter. So I took the reigns and decided for him. We will now be having Sprout at a birthing center that is about as far away as the hospital where we had Maggie - and I'm planning on a waterbirth!!!! Something I wanted so badly with Maggie! So far, I've met 2 of the 3 midwives and I love them. I know this is the right decision!

Friday, January 5th, will be a momentous day for me! It's my Trifecta: 20 weeks, my mid-way ultrasound (though we are not finding out the gender, so too bad, so sad! ;) ), and my last day of work. At first, I was a little mixed on that. Especially as I got closer to the event. I've always had a steady paycheck - I'm terrified of not, even though I still need to bring in some income! But days like today confirm my decision to leave. 8 years there, soon to be over. Wow.

Sick!

How is it I spent my last pregnancy healthier than usual, and this one I keep getting sick. :( I feel like someone ran razor blades down my throat while I was sleeping, and I have a lovely collection of snot stuck in my sinuses. Wonderful. I also have 2 parties this weekend, so the timing could not be worse. I think I'm staying home today, which would change it from 15 work days left to 14....

I also have an appointment tomorrow at a freestanding birthing center. Hopefully I will feel well enough to attend. It's a tour and a talk with one of the three midwives who run the center. I really wanted a water birth with Maggie, but Brian was not open to a homebirth (still is not) and the hospital where I delivered only allowed you to labor in the tub - and only if they could keep the baby's heartbeat on the mobile monitoring equipment (which they could not). I have a long list of questions to ensure that I will qualify as low risk, and therefore be able to use the birthing center. It's about as far away as the hospital where I had Margaret, but I like the idea of not being chained to the place for days afterwards and less interventions. At this point, I'd be happy to just stay home until the day this baby comes. I've had enough of the medical community and I really don't need them giving me contradictory advice every 4 weeks, and having to drag myself out to their office every 4 weeks for a pee test, fetal heart monitoring (which I can do at home), and a Q&A session (during which I have no questions). It's a waste of my time. So we'll see how this goes. I have high hopes that this will work out! Especially with the changes in insurance coming up...

...it turns out that the costs for DH's High Option insurance plan have increased $120/month. So instead of $50/week, it will be roughly $80/week - of which we are currently spending $0 since I get health insurance from my employer for $14/week, and it's far superior insurance. Now we're stuck with Low Option, which only covers 80% of costs. 80%. How crappy is that? $20 copays for doctors visits, they don't even cover all of well-baby visits (still 80%), and I'm not even sure if we can go to the Medical Walk In Center with his plan. I'm also not sure if they'll consider me a pre-existing condition and blackout coverage for me. DH won't ask. Wouldn't that be a wonderful addition to the situation?! SIGH.

Can't I Just Stay Home Now?

19 more work days... and it's getting harder and harder to go every day. Already, the thought has crossed my mind to call out sick today. But I'll be a good girl and go to work today, even though I'm soooooo tired I could sleep for a week. I have some things I should be finishing up before I leave for good anyway.

I'm a lucky mama, BTW. Margaret and I attended a family function by ourselves yesterday about 1 hour from our home. She was fantabulous the entire time! Never got into any trouble, charmed the pants off of all who attended, didn't complain through a single diaper change (these are usually problematic...but instead, she just followed me to the appointed room, laid down on the floor, and was wonderful through every change, even in spite of a nasty diaper rash she has right now!!), and played nicely with all the adults (there were no other small children). When I returned home I reflected upon this and when I realized why the day went so smoothly, I was immensely proud of my little lady. Sure, she's not like this every day. But the days when she is make up tenfold for the days when she's a little witch. :) I'm a lucky mama!