3D sonogram

Today we got to take a peak at this new sweet little girl's face. It was the highlight of an otherwise nutty day. I had to run back to school after dropping J off this morning because he forgot to mention that today was pajama day. All the other kids showed up in jammies and he was in jeans. So, I ran back to school (I really did run, we live across the street) and dropped them off as they were reciting the pledge of allegiance. I was glad to hear all those kids reciting it from memory. It's good to know some schools still honor America. I also went to get my hair cut today (a luxury for new moms) and as I was walking out the door I picked up E to give her a hug and kiss and noticed she was burning up. I tool her temp and sure enough...102.5. Poor thing. I gave her Tylenol, handed her to B and left. after the cut we were in so much of a hurry to get to Dallas that we had to eat lunch in the car to get there on time. I started wondering why it couldn't be pajama day for adults too.

Dallas Pregnancy Resource Center uses volunteers in every aspect of their operation aside from a few key positions. They use volunteers for post-abortion and crisis pregnancy counseling, as well as volunteer nurses for sonograms and other prenatal care. This is where the cool part comes. They use volunteer pregnant women to train their nurses on the sonogram machines. I call and say how far along I am, and they call back and schedule an appointment. No payment necessary, although they do accept donations. It is a wonderful pro-life, non -profit organization helping many women through scary times in their lives and I am honored to support their mission.

Anyway, we got to see a little bit of this little girl. Not much though.She was completely folded in half. Her knees were resting on her forehead. No kidding! I don't know how in the world she got herself wedged in that position, but it does explain the right-sided stretching pains I am having. Maybe she will be the family gymnast? Since her knees and arms were right in front of her face, we didn't get a good 3D picture. What we did see was that many of her features are similar to E's. She has the same button nose. In fact, she looks a lot like E from what we can tell. I know they will be as different as night and day, but since those pics are all I have right now, I am imagining her looking like E, with much less (and lighter)hair. I could be totally wrong here. I guess we will see in July.

Can I sit down for a minute

Last week was nuts! B was out of town Wednesday and Friday, and Saturday was the first soccer game of the season and a dear friend's B-day party so I haven't had much time to post. E is asleep, and J is outisde loving this spring-like weather so I will jot down a few thoughts for the day.

I bought my first matching outfits for the girls yesterday. E and I strolled through the mall for my daily exercise. They are little polo dresses with baby blue and white stripes. Of course one is a 12 month size and the other is a newborn. It was so much fun. They had a lot of other matching-type things, but I was really there to buy E some pants to cover her poor knees now that she is scooting. So, I used all the willpower within.

The baby has become much stronger now and I can feel her quite often; most frequently at night when I lay in bed. She actually bumped so hard that Brad felt her with his hand. He fondly remembered back to when E used to keep me up at night kicking and we would just sit there beaming at all the alien-like movements on my belly. Fetal movements (according to most women I have discussed this with) are some of the most cherished memories of pregnancy. In fact, after birth you feel alone, detached and empty. I am looking forward to another 18 weeks of this because it will be the last timeI get to feel this amazing thing!

I also got to work out today. A real workout, not just a stroll around the mall. I lifted weights and did aerobics. I felt great!!!! I can't wait until next time. Ask me tomorrow (we did a lot of push-ups) I may give you a different story. :)

Soccer moms

I am sitting here typing while I should be driving myself and my children to Ash Wednesday Mass. I can't remember the last time I missed an AW service. Some find it depressing, but I find it inspiring and deep, a good start to 40 days of inner reflection and self examination. But alas, E has a runny nose and has been sleeping most of the day, and J nearly had an asthma attack after playing outside after school. I think in this case, early bed time and rest are just what the Dr. ordered.

So instead I am sitting here, at my computer while my kids are peaceful, and reflecting on my day yesterday. For some strange reason after all the days emotions I found myself exhausted beyond all belief last night. I was so excited after the sonogram: learning that we were having a baby girl and that she was healthy, watching the video tape with Jacob after school and seeing him get excited, and the soccer practice that marked the beginning of spring soccer season.

In the first few days after bringing J home from the hospital, I didn't have dreams of snakes for pets and mud pies for dessert. My fantasy was much more disturbing. This little boy would thrust me into the glamorous world of the soccer mom: complete with SUV, cell phone, and a body that looked fantastic in short shorts. My mornings would be spent with a personal trainer followed by coffee with co-soccer moms and weekends would be spent on the field, working on my tan and cheering for this little bundle of blue.

Now, 7 1/2 years (and 5 soccer seasons) later I am finding the lifestyle not so glamorous. I like taking J to soccer and watching him grow as an athlete. I appreciate the fact that he gets a lot of exercise since the state of Texas seems to believe taking standardized tests is more important that physical education. I have the SUV, the cell phone, and I even get a little competitive at games . "Come on ref, what are ya blind?" has been known to escape these lips. What I am having a hard time with, besides the looking good in shorts, is the soccer mom sorority.

J has played on several teams since he started at the ripe old age of 4. The moms are always kind to me, but it is so obvious that we have nothing in common. Why is this? Is it because before B I was a single mom? Is it that fact that my husband works weird hours and isn't always there with me being a sideline "coach"? Is it the cellulite on my legs? I don't know what it is but there is some secret handshake I do not posses. I sat at practice, talking to E (I didn't get much response) and feeling quite lonely for the first time in awhile. I actually felt a twinge of sadness and jealousy that rarely enter my thoughts. It was so nice to go home and cuddle up with B and the kids. I felt like a person again.

Of course I will continue to enjoy my son's athletic progress and eagerness to run, but I am really hoping the girls choose something I can work with like ballet!

Wow, I just called them "the girls"! It sounds so official...and so wonderful.

Think pink!

I am sure you can tell from the title of this post that we are adding another daughter to our family. The sonogram went well. There was no doubt this time about gender like there was with E. The measurements were perfect and they saw no need for an amnio, which my poor tummy was very happy to hear.

I guess my faced dropped a bit when they said it was a girl. I didn't even realize that it showed. I honestly was expecting (hoping for) a boy. I love my baby girl, don't get me wrong, but I had blue on the brain. My mom called after the sono and asked if I was ok with it. "Of course I am...she's healthy", I immediately said. Wow, I can start referring to the baby as she. That will be a nice change.

Now that I've had time to digest the whole thing, I think that I am glad it's a girl. I can use all of Emma's clothes again. They still look brand new. Emma can keep her girly girl room, which will be fun to add even more girly things to. And most of all, I think girls keep their moms young. When I have two teen aged daughters (oh my god can you even imagine????), they will keep me up on all the latest fashions, make-up, shoes etc. I think it will be good. I think I will enjoy this.

Now...if we could just find a name...

Can you say "paranoid"?

So, here I am, nearly 19 weeks pregnant and things just don't seem real. My belly, though bigger than my average stomach, is nothing like it was with E or J at this point. My mom actually asked when I walked in their door yesterday if I was sure I was pregnant. My Dr. seems to think so, but I am beginning to wonder.

Amazing things happen in the 2nd trimester for most moms-to-be. Morning sickness fades, fatigue generally lessens, belly starts showing the world you really are pregnant and not just eating too many potato chips, and the most wonderful thing for most moms is fetal movement. The average time for most women to feel the first movement is between 16-18 weeks. Like I mentioned before. here I am at 19 and I could not tell you for sure if I have felt the baby move or not. Occasionally there will be a gas-like trickle or bubble in my tummy. But then I quickly realize it was much to high to be the baby.

This morning I chowed down on a high-carb sweet breakfast, with juice, and laid down to see what would happen. NOTHING! Great now I just had a days worth of calories at 8 in the morning, and still no reassurance. Unless you count my date with the porcelain god yesterday morning as reassurance. The only thing that assured me of is my desperate need to clean the bathroom! Yuck!

A sweetheart's day to remember

This year, Valentine's was about as low-key as ever. No date, no presents, no getting all gussied up. This year was about survival on no sleep with a very cranky baby. I dragged myself through the day waiting for the moment E would go down for one of her 3 usual naps. Nothing happened. She would fall asleep here and there for 20 minutes or so IF you were holding her. Otherwise it was a scream fest. I didn't call the Dr. since we had an appointment for a regular 6 month check up today.

We took her to the Dr. this morning and of course she was bright-eyed and happy. Smiling, babbling, doing all the things normal happy babies do. So we asked what could have possibly been wrong. She has been running a low-grade fever off and on since Sunday and her eating habits are awful. Ears were clear...thank goodness.
Dr. Hodge (E's pedi) said she believes it's just teething that is causing her so much grief. We can alternate Motrin and Tylenol to keep her comfy. (What??? No whiskey?) She also wants us to completely refuse to give her midnight "snacks". Sure Dr H. You coming to our house at 3 AM when she is waking up the neighbors with sounds only heard on a Godzilla soundtrack???

Other than cutting teeth, she is a completely healthy, normal, happy, baby. She mentioned she is ready to take off crawling...soon, so this weekend will be spent checking out the latest in baby stair gates. She also handed us a pamphlet about baby-proofing. Won't that be fun? I never really had to worry about that with J. He was never interested in cabinets or toilets, so I never had to lock them. I am not taking any chances this time. Babies R Us, here we come.

Back to V-day. B was very sweet. He brought home a salad and rolls and made pasta. We lit a fire and ate a not so romantic dinner as E looked on from her highchair, gumming a teething biscuit into oblivion. It was actually one of the nicer V-day evenings I've had. I got a card that said I'm "the perfect wife", a new wedding ring (on order) in my pregnancy fat finger size, and a free "go get you hair done wherever you want" card. I think B's words were "pamper yourself, you deserve it". Wow, who are you and what did you do with my husband? Then after dinner I enjoyed a nice warm bath with no child emergency interruptions (amazing), followed by a hair brush that basically put me to sleep. I slept wonderfully last night. Now THAT is a new mom's perfect V-day. Thanks B!!! I love you too.

I got an A+!!!

So I went to my regular OB appointment today and got an A+ for the last 4 weeks. What does that really mean? All they did was weigh me (I've gained 3 whole pounds so far ths pregnancy), check my blood pressure and listen to the baby's heartbeat. It was strong at about 152. I go back in 3 weeks.

In other news...my appointment with the perinatologist was pu on hold once again. Somewhere in TX, somebody lost some important paperwork. How is that even possible when I have sent tem 3 copies? By fax, mail, and foot. Nice hunh? Oh well. So we wait another week and see where we are in this mess. The peri's office seems to think I have another couple of weeks to spare before it gets to be "too late". What do they know?

Proof that E doesn't always wear pink :)

Snips and snails, and puppy dog tails....

That's what little boys are made of.
Well, that's what the nursery rhyme says. Obviously whoever wrote it failed their freshman biology course. We all know little boys are made up of the same things as little girls with a few different physical and chemical differences. Right? Or is there something non-biological going on with our fine fellows of the opposite sex?

As my previous post stated, I took our 7 year old, J, to PWP and the Book Fair at school. On the way to the fair, B called and said his rehearsal was cancelled and he would meet us there for dinner and books. We get to the school, pay our $2.50 per person and stand in line for cold Cici's pizza, warm beverages and something that resembled a cinnamon roll. After dinner is when these two odd creatures revealed a dark side to me.

As we walked into the library we told J he could pick three books. One for him (anything he wanted), one to read with E, and one educational book (yes I know we are boring parents). J immediately picked up a Spongebob chapter book for himself, and a cute book for Emma. We then proceeded to the "educational" book table. J has an extreme fascination with the planets and solar system as well as sharks. So, naturally, we guide him towards these books. Unfortunately a different "educational" book caught his eye immediately. He grabbed the book, ran up to me, and in non-library-appropriate voice (laughing along too) he exclaimed "MOM, look it's a book about POOP!" Stares came from all over the book fair. I felt myself trying to sink to the floor. Boys eyes turned from all directions as their ears perked. What is it with poop? What is so interesting about it that it holds our dear boy's attentions into adulthood (and beyond I am sure)?

I always thought I wanted 3 little boys running around the house, playing with cars and insects. But in this brief moment of complete humiliation I had a fondness for my daughter I had not yet felt. Especially when girls walked by the book and shrieked "Oh gross!!!!" It will be nice to have someone on "our team". Someone who understands the fine art of a good clay mask and fat jeans. I will always cherish my two "little boys" and if this next one is a boy, I will love him just the same. But I now appreciate having my baby girl in a way I never had before.

We did in fact buy the poop book for J, and the last two nights the boys have read several pages including the one about how to change your "p" different colors. Good for them I guess. On his way out the door this morning, J ran in to give me my goodbye hug and, while looking at E, asked "why does she always wear pink mommy?" I smiled broadly and said "because she's a girl!"

No long needles today

So, our amnio was rescheduled for next Tuesday. It was supposed to be today, but do to a significant hold up on the eternal paper trail, we have to wait another week. After all the ranting and raving that went on yesterday that I (and my baby) have to suffer for someone else's mistake (or just plain laziness), I have become stoic. I feel overwhelmed by so many different emotions, on top of an already moody pregnancy disposition. On the way back from E's music class this morning I was thinking to myself that we would have known if the baby was a boy or girl by this evening, and now we wait another week. It's like someone stole the cherry on top of your sundae. How rude!!! is all I can say.

The silver lining in all of this is that I can take J to his "Pizza with Parents" night and visit the bookfair. I would have been on strict bed rest for the next 24 hours post amnio, but no need for that today. I even decided to leave E with my folks so J can have some 1 on 1 time with mom. Both kids will need as much as they can get before this summer when all hell break loose.

Baby Poll online!

Ok, so we decided to start a baby poll. You can guess all the stats for the new baby online. The winner gets something....not sure yet.

Start your guessing!

http://www.expectnet.com/games/BabyBennight

It's the small things in life...

Well, here I am at 1 week post previa discovery and I've made it a whole week with no bleeds. That's really awesome and hopefully it will allow me to get up and around more.

My first outing to celebrate was actually for J. He got a whole month of exceptional behavior at school and we rewarded him with two new fish for his tank. Now he has five. So, right afer I picked him up from school we drove down to Petland to pick out the new tankmates. He picked out these cool glowfish: one neon yellow and and one hot pink.

The strangest thing happened on the way to get the fish. The rain that was supposed to last all night started looking a little clumpy and white and we realized we were driving along in a winter wonderland. Now that we're back home all the roof tops are white and kids are running around catching snowflakes on their tongues. It's not supposed to snow in Texas. Folks, this has been a really bizarre (and cold) winter. So much for global warming eh? All I can say is, I hope there is still school tomorrow.