9 weeks

4/4/2013 - 9 weeks and 5 days

Week 9 was a bit rough.  I caught a wicked stomach bug on Easter Sunday, which had me throwing up from 3am-7am and even caused me to faint.  Luckily I landed on my back and was only out for a second.  Either way I felt horrible the entire day and couldn't keep any food down until the afternoon.  Then a couple days later my throat started to bother me and I woke up the next morning with a slight sinus infection.  There's no telling how many boxes of Kleenex I'll go through this time.

On another note I told my close girlfriends the news this week.  Apparently this was no news to them as they had figured it out awhile ago and were just waiting for me to spill the beans.  They said they could smell it on me!  And here I thought I was being so sly!

My nausea seems to have gone away this week, excluding the stomach bug I had at the beginning of the week.

8 weeks - 2nd checkup

3/26/2013 - 8 weeks and 3 days

Yup, this was the long Dr appointment where they go over all the information, give you your pregnancy packet, talk to you about tests and take a good 3-5 vials of blood.  Since I will be 35 years old a couple weeks before the baby is born, I'm eligible for the high risk pregnancy test called MaterniT21, apparently 35+ is considered advanced maternal age, PFFT!  It's a noninvasive blood test that tests for fetal chromosome variations (Trisomy 21, 13, 18).  Now just gotta make sure this is covered by insurance.  :Þ  This test can also determine the gender, so we could know what we're having as early as week 12!

I also had another ultrasound.  This time my new Dr actually had an old sonogram machine and could do it herself.  Usually I have to go to a different Dr for the ultrasound.  As the machine was so old the picture quality wasn't as great, everything still looked like a blurry blob.  However she said everything looks great.  The heartbeat was up to 193 bpm and I'm measuring on track.

Since I will have to have a c-section again, the Dr mentioned we could schedule for a week before the due date.  Therefore we're looking at Oct 25th as the potential due date.  :) 

6 & 7 weeks

3/13/2013

I started feeling nauseous around week 6.  This is pretty close to the same time I started feeling icky with Ryland.  It hits me at all times during the day, usually an hour or so after I eat.  Most of the time I just tough it out, sometimes I'll grab a sprite and the carbonation helps.  Overall I'm just blah.

Bacon and coffee are out.  I don't want anything to do with those two items right now.  Instead of coffee I've switched to hot decaf tea in the mornings.  As for cravings, I can't seem to eat enough fruit or veggies!  Most of the time for my snacks I'm eating an apple, orange or banana.  Those really seem to help settle my stomach.  I've also been wanting veggies, lettuce, tomatoes, carrots.  I guess this baby is on a health kick, with Ry I craved sweets.

Sigh, things are so different this time around.  With Ry I didn't show until after 20 weeks.  With B#2 my abs have muscle memory and I swear they've already given up.  My midsection is no bueno and I feel fat.  So much for swimsuit season!

Sleep!  I am tired all the time, I can't make myself wake up early (to run) and I'm taking 2 hour naps on weekends.  At work I wish I could just lock myself in a team room (or the mothers room!) for a cat nap.

Yup, I'm still exercising, but I really don't have as much motivation as I did the first time around.  I find myself easily missing runs with my girls and sleeping in instead.  Since I'm not working out early in the morning I have to squeeze my workouts in at the gym over lunch.  

5 weeks - 1st checkup

3/1/2013

I called my doctors office to schedule my first checkup thinking they would see me around week 7/8.  Oh no, things have change, they wanted to see me at week 5!  I thought that seemed a bit early, especially for an ultrasound.  Really, what could they possibly see at week 5?

3/6/2013

My first checkup was quick, nothing like my first checkup with Ryland.  I met with my nurse practitioner first, we went over some information and I gave a urine sample.  Then she dropped a bomb on me, my Dr was retiring in August so I had to choose a new one!  :(  She gave me a few recommendations and then I was off to my ultrasound.  Again this visit was quick, within 30 mins. As I suspected they couldn't see much during the ultrasound, just a yoke sack.  I couldn't even see a flicker that would be the heartbeat.  Surprisingly they did manage to capture the heartbeat!  93 beats per min, a bit slow right now but that's due to how early I am into the pregnancy (5 weeks 4 days).  They did print off a picture for me, seriously you can't see anything but a blob.

My next appointment will be at 8 weeks.  This will be a LONG session, scheduled for 2 hours.  My guess is I'll be giving blood for this one and it will be more on par with my 1st checkup with Ry.

Coming soon

Written 2/24/2013

That's right, baby #2 is on the way!  

At first I thought this past month was a bust as I had taken a pregnancy test on Feb 19th and it came back negative.  All my calculations had pointed to that date as the date I should know for sure if we'd been successful.  It's not unusual for me to be a couple days late or even early, and I really didn't think much of it until I realized 5 days had gone by and nothing had happened.  I decided to try again and sure enough, this time, the test was positive!  :)

Based on an online conception calculator, B#2 has a Nov 2nd due date.

23 Months

I was looking at Ry the other day and proclaimed "man, he's gotten so big!"  Watching him on the monitor at daycare he looks so tall and much older.  Ry now weighs in at 26.6 lbs, which I think still puts him in the 50th percentile.  I'm interested to find out the rest of his stats at his 2 year checkup.  Ry is also very much a parrot and repeats pretty much everything you say to him.  Daddy finally got him to say "I Love You" the other day.  Made my heart melt.  Daddy also taught Ry to scream "I'm crazy" when he jumps around like a crazy person.  Oh the fun in our house!

Here's link to a video of Ryland jumping and saying "I'm crazy".  For some reason I couldn't get the video to import  

hat day at daycare 2/27/2013

Oh man does this boy LOVE trucks.  He can’t get enough of them.  He likes trains too but trucks are the big ones.  Everywhere we go he yells “BIG TRUCKS”.  He also loves watching all the construction vehicles in our neighborhood.  When he sees clothing with trucks or cars on them, he immediately wants to wear them.  Looks like my little guy is starting to get picky about his clothes.

Who likes trucks? We do we do! 3/5/2013

Ry is quite the adventurer.  He wants to do most things on his own and will get upset if me if I try and help.  After he's master whatever he's doing, he will then tell me to 'go', which usually means to go with him.  He's also quite the sharer of food, which is not always a good thing.  He will offer anyone around him a 'bite' of what he's eating.  Kinda gross if he's been gnawing on it for a while.  Ry will also go after anything mommy and daddy are eating.  He'll just come right up to us, say 'bite' and help himself to our food.  You would think this might be a great diet, but I haven't lost any weight.

Ry climbing all on his own 3/9/2013

Off-roadin' at the neighbors.  I make this look good! 3/2/2013

Here's one of those rare moments when Ry likes being in daddy's car. He loves going to the mailbox and helping daddy carry in the magazines.  ;)  Usually he wants to go in mommy's car and will burst out crying when we tell him no.  I think he might be a little attached to mommy...

Not sure why, but Ryland loves going to the mailbox. 3/11/2013

During Spring Break we took the kids camping to Pace Bend.  Last year Ry was barely a year old and was just learning to walk.  This time he was off wandering on his own, playing with rocks, dirt and toting his dump truck everywhere.  He especially loved rolly pollies and would scream 'BUG!" every time he saw one.  Ry also made himself quite comfortable in my parents camper, especially in the early morning when it was cold out.  He had a ball and slept great at night in our tent.  I think he slept better than us.

Camping at pace bend 3/14-3/16

our camp site

Ry always says "hot" when he sees smoke and steam

I like long walks along the beach...

warming up with Juju

22 Months

I can't believe we're only 2 months away from Ry's 2nd birthday!  I've already begun the preparations; figured out the favors, theme, cake and games. I even have the invitations ready to send.  Thankfully my friends gently urged me not to send them out until March time frame.  ;)

Anyways I digress.  Here's a video that I forgot to post last month.  Ry riding his elephant 1/1/2013

My little guy was very active this past month.  He finished up his Saturday swim lessons at the end of Jan and in the middle of Jan he began tumbling class on Thursdays with Opa and Juju.  The tumbling class was at the YMCA and was a parent-tot class for his age.  There were only 3 kids total signed up for tumbling so they ended up combining the classes.  Unfortunately Ry was the youngest; the other two kids were 2 and 4 so they tailored the class to the older kids.  My parents mentioned the class was a bit too much for him but he still had a great time.  I went to his last two classes where everyone professed that was the most they'd seen him do!  I guess with mommy there he was ready to show off what he had learned.  The teacher also taught them how to stick the landing by yelling "Freeze, Ta-da!".  For an entire week Ry would jump off something, say "freeze" in a bent position, then stand up straight with his hands in the air "tada!"  

Swim class with daddy 1/19/2013

tumbling with mommy

Enjoying tumbling class 2/14/2013

It amazes me every day how much our little guy has grown.  Ry is quite the chatter box!  He can put together several small sentences, can name the majority of the animals in his books and he's pretty good about repeating 95% of the words you say to him.  Ry wants to be like the big boys and will do most things all on his own - like climbing the playscapes by himself, putting on his clothes without assistance and even trying to help mommy cook.  He's also very polite and considerate!  He does need to work on his 'please' a bit more (we do periodically have to remind him to say please); however, he's great with his thank yous!  He'll say thank you after I hand him a book, his juice, or a toy and even when he gets dessert.  He's also very good about throwing away his trash and will even throw away other people's trash when asked.  When mommy cleans house he gets right in there and tries to vacuum or steal my duster, so helpful!  He will also feed the dogs and share his food with you, saying "Mommy/daddy bite" when offering us a taste of his snack.  Ry will also help the teachers at daycare keep the other kids in line. The teachers have told us that Ry will go after the kids who have walked out of line and bring them back.  Ry can also be very particular!  He likes things a certain way, books in specific spots, where he wants you to sit (or where to go), and how his trucks are organized.  Apparently at Opa and Juju's house he will take his trucks and line them up just so, and he won't let anyone move them out of place.  Ry LOVES trucks and trains, he just can't get enough of them.  While in the car he will continuously yell out 'big trucks!'  In our neighborhood we have a lot of construction and he will sit there for a good 15-20 mins just watching the diggers and CATs move about.  He will spend hours playing with his dump, cement and crane trucks.  He enjoys watching Chuck & Friends, Thomas the Train and Chuggington (all truck and train cartoons).  Ry's also a huge fan of Family Guy....but let's not discuss that.  :Þ

dressing myself 2/10/2013

I can climb all by myself 2/16/2013

Speaking of daycare, at the end of January KRK had a photographer come in and take old style Hollywood pictures!  You can imagine my excitement as these are one of the few shots we've never done.  I was really hoping they'd turn out horribly so that I wouldn't have to buy them.  Yeah right, they were all so freaking adorable!  We ended up purchasing the CD so we could make unlimited copies; the package also came with an 8x10 of one of the shots, 2 magnets and 4 wallets!  That was a nice unexpected bonus.  Below is the collage of all the pictures.  My handsome Hollywood producer.  :)

 

Hollywood style photo-shoot from daycare 1/30/2013

Ry is definitely a lover of music and dancing (just like his mommy).  Whether riding in the car, relaxing at home or playing with a musical toy, once he hears music he starts to move to the beat, dance and clap.  One Friday night we headed to Ramos in Manor for dinner and they just happened to have a live band that night.  Ry and Madison (neighbor) were so captivated by this band that they sat down in the middle of the restaurant to watch.  Eventually Ry pulled me over and told me to 'sit' with him.  :)  Then for Valentine's Opa & Juju gave us a singing Cupig.  Ry couldn't get enough of that little piggy, he carried it everywhere that day, clapping and dancing to his heart's content.  It is a catchy little tune, heck I used to dance to that back in my heyday at the dance hall!

enjoying live music with friends 2/8/2013

Video of the kids enjoying the band 2/8/2013

Video of Ry & Cupig - dancing (OK, maybe more jumping vs dancing) 2/14/2013

It was also a busy month for birthdays!  Cousin Margaret's birthday party was at the Austin Children's Museum.  Ry absolutely loved all the gadgets and toys, such an amazing experience!  He was thrilled with the trucks in the cave room, loved the golf ball exhibit (and gravity), had fun watching the train and pushing all the buttons to hear the different train noises and whistles, and spent some time in the rising star ranch exhibit.

Austin Children's Museum 1/26/2013

Ry LOVES trucks 1/26/2013

Next up was our neighbors son's Thomas the Train b-day party.  They rented a kiddie Express Train and the kids had a ball!  Ry would not leave that train, he must have ridden it 5 or 6 times.  The last couple of rides he stowed away in the 'engine' and rung the bell.  

Neighbor b-day party:  sissy and bro on the swing 2/2/2013

Ringing the train bell 2/2/2013

Come on ride the train!

And to round it off was Brooke's birthday in early Feb.  My friend Jenn put together a wonderful magical party filled with fairies and wizards for her daughter (unfortunately I didn't take pictures of the enchanted decor).  She had neat crafts, awesome snacks and a bounce house for the kids.  Ry even tried his hand at the piñata.

At the top of the slide, climbed up there all on his own

Pinata at Brooke's bday party 2/9/2013