Finally...A Blog Post!!!

I am a bad bad blogger.  Everyday I say to myself I need to write a post.  Then I either forget or get one half written and something happens and I can't finish.  I have more half written posts in my drafts folder than I know what to do with.  And guess what guys?  Most of them actually have some thought behind them and aren't me just complaining.  Go figure. :)

So, before I get to the posts with actual thought I figured I'd give y'all a sort of update.  Then I promise I'll get one of two posts up that I've been wanting to do for a long long time.  I haven't decided which one will go up first...depends on which one I'm in the mood to finish.

Let's start with Hannah.  I'm a just over 25 weeks along now.  This is just mind boggling to me.  This time around it is going so much faster than it did with Mary-Grace.  I swear I never thought I'd make it to this point with her.  But with Hannah, I feel like I blinked and here I am.  I find that to be bittersweet.  I don't know how to put this so if it comes out like I'm ungrateful or complaining please know that I'm not.  I feel like the faster this pregnancy goes by the faster Mary-Grace's first birthday will be here.  I'm not ready for that.  I can't believe how fast it is sneaking up on me.  Before I know it Hannah will be here.  Don't get me wrong, I cannot wait to meet her, however, I feel like my baby is getting big so fast.  I miss my little newborn peanut.  I've got a weird case of mommy guilt.  I know that giving MG a sibling is such a blessing, both to her and to me, but I feel bad because she didn't get much time here on her own (I realize this is ridiculous because only the first child gets alone time at all).  I know that my heart has plenty of room to love multiple children (and I do already love Hannah, it's just different) but I can't imagine loving anyone more that I love Mary-Grace.  I don't know how to put my love for her into words.  I feel like my heart could just explode.  How can I possibly love someone else that much at the same time.  It hurts my brain trying to wrap my mind around it.

Other than that Hannah seems to be doing great!  She's growing and moving more and more everyday.  I'm assuming that I passed my glucose test last week since no one has called (wahoo!).  I've gained 9 pounds but it feels like 50.  I can't sleep to save my life and have to pee every 20 minutes.   Sounds about right.

Now for Mary-Grace...

She is doing wonderful!  She is 8 1/2 months old.  She still has no teeth but has two on the bottom that are trying their hardest to push through making her miserable.  She is doing a combination of army crawling and rolling to get around and has just begun to get herself onto her hands and knees and rock.  I'm sure crawling is right around the corner.  I have mixed feeling about that.  She sits up beautifully but if she falls over she can't, or won't, sit herself up.  Is this strange?   I feel more like she just won't not that she can't.  She's extremely stubborn.  And the most glorious news of all...SHE IS SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!  She goes down any time between 7pm and 9pm (it's usually at 7:30 but does vary from time to time) and sleeps until anywhere from 6am-7am.  Well, this morning she got up at 5am but whatever.  Lately she's been waking up briefly around midnight of so and fussing for 30 seconds or so and then falling back asleep.  I think this is teething related though.  Naps still leave something to be desired though.  She is typically ready for a morning nap sometime before 9am but how long she sleeps is up in the air.  It can be anywhere from 20 minutes to 2 hours but is usually closer to 30-45 minutes.  Afternoon naps are hit or miss.  But hey, I'll take what I can get.  This is such an improvement from a few months ago.

Breastfeeding is still going.  My milk supply is definitely dwindling as I get further along.  We are now having to supplement with about 6-10 ounces of formula a day.  It seriously broke my heart at first and was compounding the depression issues I was having but my wonderful husband has been so supportive and helped me to feel much much better about it.  He reminded me that feeding my baby formula does not make me a bad mom, starving my child would.  She was hungry and obviously not getting enough from me.  How could I deny her more food?  I've talked to many women who have been there as well as several lactation consultants and I've come to realize that I'm very lucky to still be breastfeeding her as much as I am at this point in my pregnancy.  A lot of women totally dry up by this point or their babies wean themselves to to the change in taste.  The LC reminded me that often when you hear of women bfing all the way through their pregnancies are women who get pregnant when their nursing baby is much older than MG was so they aren't needing as much milk as she does.  I was fortunate enough that a wonderful fellow blogger sent me some of her extra frozen milk.  Now that that is gone I would love to find more donor milk but the only bank anywhere near me is 2 hours away and the cost is $5 per ounce.  I just cannot afford that.  I will supplement as necessary and refuse to feel guilty for it.  I will also breastfeed her as much as possible, even if that means she only get an ounce from me a day.  I love the time we spend together and I figure the comfort she receives from it is just as important as the nutrition.

Yikes!  This is getting long!  I had more to share but I'll hold off for now.  I'll end with this:

Thanks Brenda over at Life As We Know It was so sweet to honor me with the Liebster Award for up and coming blogs.  I don't know that I would call myself "up and coming" seeing as how I'm lucky to pump out one post a month...but I was honored non the less. :)

The Liebster Award spotlights up and coming bloggers with fewer than 200 followers. In return for the award, the recipient bestows the award on five of their favorite bloggers.

I'm sure I'm going to name ladies who have already received the award but my blogging world is a bit small.  :)

1.Isaiah 55:8-9 - She was my prayer buddy during Lent and I love her blog.  I don't comment over there as often as I should but she is wonderful!

2.Angela at Mary Grace Holmes - I found her awhile ago and I just love her!  I ready her blog from the very beginning and fell in love with her faith through such tragedy.  Her beautiful daughter Isabel and son Ian are pretty darn awesome too!

3.Lauren at Magnify the LORD with me - Oh my, how I love Lauren!  She adopted a beautiful daughter last year and was just blessed with the adoption of another sweet baby girl a few weeks ago.  I was so fortunate to be able to visit her a few months ago for my first blogger meet up.  She is an amazing hostess and has an amazing husband.  And that sweet little Abigail of hers is even cuter in person.

4. Sew at Sew Hormonal - Can I even nominate her?  Isn't she the queen of these blogs?  Haha!  I seriously love Sew!  We often joke that she and I must be twins.  Our crazy hormonal antics often mirror each other.  I feel blessed to have found her.  She is the first person I've ever talked to about my hormonal hell that actually gets it because she experiences the same things.

5. Awaiting at Awaiting a Child of God - She was also able to join us for the blogger meet up at Lauren's and I fell in love with her instantly.  She is such a sweet southern girl with the most adorable accent.  She is due any day now with a sweet little baby that I just cannot wait to meet!


Thanks again Brenda!  And you made me chuckle...we definitely share the same sense of humor. ;)

Quick Takes Fall Pictures Edition!

1.  My little peanut was an angel for Halloween.  I had every intention of making her a lady bug...I actually decided on that last year long before she was born.  However, I was searching around on etsy and found some adorable baby angel wings and decided that I just had to go with it.  She can be a ladybug next year. :)

This is MG with her little cousin Olivia.  I say little a bit sarcastically.  O is 2.5 months younger than MG, was born at only 7lbs and has already pasted MG in weight by over 2lbs.  She's a little chunk and I love it!  And look...they are holding hands. :)

2.  We took MG to a pumpkin patch last Saturday.  We had planned on taking her to this little farm that has one that is about an hour or so away but it was a dreary, rainy morning so we decided to stick around a bit more locally.  Can I just tell you how I have dreamed of pumpkin patch pictures for years.  I was so unbelievably excited!

Momma, I want this one!

She absolutely refused to look at the camera.  But she sure does have a cute smile in this one. :)

She was way more interested in eating the leaves and the hay.

Nope...still won't look...

Not with daddy either. :/

3.  Of course since we went to the pumpkin patch we had to get a pumpkin to carve.  I don't think there has ever been a Halloween that I haven't carved a pumpkin.  But K, until he met me he had never carved one.  NEVER.  I've never heard something so strange.  Poor deprived child. :o)  Rest assured though, my children will not know what that's like. ;)

Mmmm...pumpkin guts!

 

4.  I told y'all we took a quick little getaway to Orlando a few weeks ago to celebrate our 5th anniversary.  We had a blast!  We decided at the last minute not to go to Epcot for the Food and Wine Festival.  Instead we just hung out around Downtown Disney and our Resort.  It was just what I needed.  I was great to just relax and not worry about anything that needed to be done.  When we got back I felt very recharged.

First stay in a hotel.

Momma, I think I want a Harley.

What?  Why can't I have a motorcycle?  All the other babies have one.

Sitting with daddy's favorite character.

She loved the water spouts!

Well hello there!

5.  So, this isn't quite fall but I wanted to share some of my 6 month pictures of MG.  I know, I know, she's 7 months old now.  But I thought these were cute.  And since I have been seriously slacking in my monthly posts to her I figured this will do.

And just for comparison.  Here is MG at about 2 weeks old...

What happened to my little peanut?  This makes me all teary. :(

7.  Now for the non picture, non fall related take.  I'm looking for a new homemade spaghetti sauce recipe.  I've never gotten around to perfecting one of my own and I just don't have the energy.  So...I want yours.  If you would kindly leave me a comment with your recipe or you can email me.  I would be so, so grateful!  I'm hoping to make a bunch to freeze for when Hannah gets here.  I'm almost 22 weeks by the way.  When the heck did that happen?

I don't talk about politics on here much...or at all. I have strong opinions but I'm not a good debater so I figure I'll leave that to those who are. Anyway, that being said, I thought this video was hilarious!

This is a clip of CEO Pe.t.er Sc.hi.ff asking a question of those that are a part of Oc.cu.py W.a.ll St.re.et.

Here's the link:
http://www.970wfla.com/cc-common/news/sections/newsarticle.html?feed=104668&article=9313957#.TqtbMlRXTF0.mailto




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone so please excuse they typos. My phone thinks it's smarter than me.

I'm Going to Disney World!

Not that that's too crazy or out of the ordinary or anything seeing as how I've gone at least once nearly every year of my life and only live about an hour and a half away. But still! I'm like a 5 year old. I LOVE Disney! LOVE IT!

K came home and surprised me with the news that we'd be taking a little getaway (with MG) of course this weekend. An early anniversary trip I assume. :) He's never surprised me with a trip before. So much fun! I love surprises!

Apparently K has been squirreling away a little money here and there. We also had a recent turn in our financial situation that is helping make this possible.

Oh my gosh! Can I tell you how excited I am?!?! K and I love vacations and we especially love all things Disney. We're going to stay at one of the Disney resorts Friday and Saturday. Then on Saturday we're heading to Epcot for the Food and Wine Festival. It's wonderful. Last year was the first time in a about 8 years that we haven't gone. I guess partaking in all the wine and beer is out of the question but I can eat. They have such delicious food at this event. K reminded me that a little wine while pregnant is fine (yes I have the occasional wine while pregnant. Don't judge. :) ) but I'm not comfortable with it in public. I don't need someone calling CPS on me.

I can't wait to show MG one of our favorite places. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures! :)


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone so please excuse the autocorrect craziness! My phone is out to get me!

Sleep! Glorious Sleep!

So I'm not going to tell you (because when you tell people it makes things change) that this girl...

This girl right here...






Yes, the one giving me the side eye. Slept from about 9:30 last night until 4:00 this morning. I'm also not going to tell you that after she ate she went back to sleep and slept until 8:15...in her own room...in her crib! But I'm not going to tell you all of that. ;)

Updated to add that I'm not going to mention that she just woke up from a 2 hour nap. Nope, not going to mention it. ;)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone so please excuse the autocorrect craziness! My phone is out to get me!

Thank you and an update.

Thank you all so, so much for your kind words, prayers, emails, and FB messages. I was really struggling bad last week. Really bad. This week things are looking much much better.

Over the weekend I had K get up with MG every other time she woke. I was still up often but it not being every hour was glorious! I don't need a ton of sleep, but I do need to sleep in longer than 30 minute increments. It's amazing what sleep depravation can do to you. Not just physically, but mentally too.

At my OB appointment yesterday, other than finding out that we're having another girl (squee! I'm so excited!) we also discussed a few other things. One, my weight. Ive been steadily loosing since I got pregnant. If I was sick the way I was with MG they wouldn't have batted an eye at it. But I'm not so they are slightly concerned. I have my 20 week ultrasound in 3 weeks. Hopefully Hannah is measuring on target, if not I'm sure they aren't going to be happy. In the mean time I'm supposed to be increasing my food intake.

I think there may be a few reasons to the weight loss. For one thing, I'm still bf'ing MG. I'm also still dealing with being hyperthyroid. One of the symptoms of that is unexplained weight loss. Then of course there is just being busy. Keeping up with MG all day and being so exhausted sometimes causes me to forget to eat. I'm trying to be much more diligent about stopping to eat every few hours. Even if it's just a little bit of cheese or a glass of milk. I've got to get the calories in somehow. Too bad I can't have this hyperthyroid when I'm not pregnant. I wouldn't mind unexplained weight loss so much then.

I also showed my OB some medication the endocrinologist prescribed me for my thyroid. I didn't start taking it because it had some pretty scary warnings on it regarding liver failure and death in pregnant women. The OB assured me though that these were very very rare side effects an that were almost always associated with women who already had liver problems. He also pointed out that I was given a much smaller dose than what is customary. He said that the medication was actually the one for hyperthyroidism that is given to pregnant women. The other one is not recommended at all. He agreed to monitor my liver enzymes monthly just to be sure. He also said that as my thyroid levels get back to a bit more normal we'll stop the medication and just continue to monitor. He also explained that hyperthyroidism in pregnancy in itself can be dangerous to Hannah. Apparently it can cause all sorts of issues. I'm pretty comfortable with the plan for now. And to be honest, I've already noticed feeling a little less foggy since I began taking it. I'm by totally clear headed, but I'm more clear than I have been in years. I'll take it.

On to some not so fun news. I took MG in for her 6 month check up this morning. In 3 months she hasn't gained any weight and has only grown 1/4 inch. I feared this. I've been feeling for quite some time that my milk supply has been dropping. All the signs are there and I'm at that point in my pregnancy where it's common. My pediatrician. Was slightly concerned but really helpful. Our first plan of action is to increase solids. We had been moving slowly but we are now going to be feeding her 4 times per day. We are going to weigh in in one month and see how it's going. At that point we will decide if supplementing with formula is necessary. It breaks my heart to think that I font make enough for her. I feel all kinds of mommy guilt. But I absolutely cannot let her go hungry! I knew we would eventually have to supplement. It just sort of snuck up on me. As much as I don't want to give her formula the most important thing is to feed my baby. I have to remember that.

I also talked to him about her frequent waking at night. He thinks that unfortunately it could be because she is hungry. She's probably not getting enough during the day to keep her satisfied. We're going to see how she does with this solids increase and then revisit it again next month.

Thank you all again for everything! Your prayers have helped so much!

And just for fun, a picture of my little Peanut!



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone so please excuse the autocorrect craziness! My phone is out to get me!

Mary-Grace is going to have a little...

SISTER!
Hannah Therese

We couldn't be happier. I was 99.9% sure it was a boy so we were both surprised. I think it is going to be wonderful having two little girls so close in age. A dream come true for sure!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone so please excuse the autocorrect craziness! My phone is out to get me!