Bows & Barrettes

The other week I made a post on some hats that I made for baby girl, and I'd mentioned that I would have more to show you, well I do. When I decided to make those hats, I decided to make some hair bows. Turns out, I really didn't need to since my sister still had the barrettes she used for my niece. I also got quite a few from my shower and I picked some up here and there along the way. The bows were ridiculously easy to make, and I still have clips and tons of ribbon, if I want to make more. I know I will, I just need to get more colored ribbon. The clips my sister had just needed some sprucing up, a little wash, and they were all as good as new. I can't wait to put them in her hair...Ugh, with my luck she'll have no hair.

The bows I made...


The rest of the barrettes my sister gave me...

Father's Day Weekend

I know it's a little late, but I hope the dads out there had a great day! We did the usual celebration at my sister's. We had lunch and swimming. Jacob and Jesse enjoyed the pool, I did too. Jacob also had the chance to enjoy my brother's dogs. Jacob is not a huge fan of dogs. When they try to get a little too close to him, he gets the skeeves. And he loves to yell at my sister's dog, Jewel. Before he walks in the door of her house, he's been known to start yelling at her. But she's tiny compared to my bro's dog, Nala the Lab. Scooter is the beagle. They are both super sweet dogs and love kids, and so they have no problem going up to Jacob or any other kid. On father's day, a couple of my little cousins happened to be over and they would all lay on the concrete to play with the dogs through the gate. Well, Jacob saw this and tried to do it too. He even tried to give Nala a kiss and he got a big wet lick in return. It was funny and cute to watch.

He has to say cheese with this weird arm movement...




He looks miserable but I swear he was so happy...






Jacob's buddies, Nala and Scooter...


He was giving Nala a kiss...


Jacob having a conversation with Scooter...

35/35

What does it mean? It means I am 35 weeks pregnant with 35 DAYS to go! Ack! Or less! So with all the commotion of Friday and the scare Isabella gave us, it was time to get ready for her arrival. You know, just in case she's early. This past weekend I packed my hospital bag along with her stuff too. We got her bassinet up and ready, and now it's a waiting game. My family thinks she'll come around July 10th, I think she may come early, but I'm not sure how early. At first I thought maybe around the 20th, but now I think it may be around the 4th. Is that crazy? I think it's because I'm feeling more contractions than I ever did with Jacob. I've even felt some lower back ones. But it could also be that anything can happen from now until my due date, and if she needs to be out of my tummy to be healthy, then so be it! We'll see!

I also had another NST since last Friday, and Isabella was perfect! However, the AFI did not look too perfect. It wasn't bad but it wasn't great either. Apparently at my last AFI, my amniotic fluid was between a 16-18 (can't remember exactly) but now it's at an 8! it's still normal, actually it's above normal, but it's quite a dip from my last AFI. So, I was prescribed rest and water. We'll see how that goes.

Deja Vu: NST Update

It's like I've been here before. Oh, wait! I have been here, with Jacob. So, I've had 3 Non-stress tests so far. The first 2 were easy. I was in and out of those within 40 minutes. Little girl did her thing, and my BP was fine. Well, not so much for the 3rd visit. On Friday I went in for my NST at 4p, it was preceded by an early morning for my nephew's graduation with lots of sitting, not enough water, and a later than usual lunch. I knew this would spell disaster but I was going in thinking everything would be okay. You see, exactly 2 years earlier I had an NST after Jasmine's graduation morning that sent me straight to L & D. Well, guess what? I was back in L & D.

This past NST started off normal enough. For the 1st 15 minutes everything seemed fine, but then they noticed that I had a contraction and it looked like baby's heart had deceled, not a good thing. If it stays the same or accelerates during a contraction, that's okay. So they wanted to make sure that every time I had a contraction baby's heart was not deceling, and I had to force myself to have contractions. Let me tell you, you don't want to know how I had to do this, but hey it worked, and I didn't have to go the IV route. I had 3 contractions and baby's heart did NOT decel. Thank God. However, baby girl's heart rate was looking very flat. Instead of a squiggly line, her line was close to looking very flat or straight. The Doctor's did not like this at all, and I was sent to L & D for more monitoring. I got into L & D at about 5p, and for awhile baby was still looking the same, so the Doc on-call (my doc was on vacay) said I should eat something. I was sent some oh so yummy :0| chicken, spinach, potato type dinner. I forced myself to eat despite not being hungry at all. Late lunch, remember? But I'm glad I did because soon after, it was like everything was back to normal. Baby girl was fine! Her heart rate was normal, looked normal, I had no more contractions. We were free to go home, at around 8p. The Doc said that the fact that her heart rate looked so normal trumped the way it looked earlier and she is absolutely fine. I was so relieved.

BTW, my BP stood pretty normal through all of this, however I did get a call from the lab that I do have +1 in my urine for protein, a possible early indication that I may have or may be headed toward preeclampsia. I hope not! It's said that you can go from diagnosis to delivery in 2 weeks. I'm so not ready. Getting there, but not quite there. I have to pack my bag, I have most of my stuff and her stuff together, and her sleep area is ready after a day of thorough cleaning. She'll be sleeping with us for a few months in her playard/bassinet. And her portion of the closet and her room is pretty much set. I'll have pictures soon!

Hats & Bows

With Isabella's due date creeping closer, I've been trying to get ready for it. The other day I decided I wanted to buy some cute hats for her, but I'm on a budget. Actually, I might be on a budget, but I'm cheap...and crafty. So when I looked for hats and saw that they cost more than $10 a piece, I scoffed at the prices! I knew I could make my own, easy! I decided to make a trip to Joann's, one of my new hangouts, and picked up a pack of newborn hats in pink, yellow, and white. And a couple of other things I will show you soon. Oh, and the hats only cost $2.50 for 3! I used a 40% off coupon, but $5 for 3 hats is still cheap. The ribbon was free. All of it. Well, I had it in my stash, and I found pieces here and there from other stuff. However, I didn't know how to make a bow, but that's what You Tube is for! I found a billion a lot of tutorials there with different kinds of bows. I stuck with the boutique bow. These only took me a few hours to make, and that includes wash time for the hats. I adore the way they came out! My absolute favorite is the pink one, and the very first one I made!

Mischievous Monkey

Anyone who has a child knows that silence is not always good. Well, it is, but when a toddler should be talking and chatting and making noise, and you hear nothing...something's going on. The other day I was making breakfast for me and Jacob, and I hear nothing - no singing, talking, feet walking. I peek into his room and see that his changing table drawer is open. Okay, I look on the floor, directly under the changing table, and see nothing. Nothing under or around it. I turn my head to follow the direction Jacob's walking, and I see him climb into his bed and into a cloud of diapers with him saying "Pee pee." He dumped out his diapers onto his bed. I laughed out loud! I think it was more out of relief that it wasn't diaper rash ointment or sunscreen all over him or his bed. That drawer now contains diapers and a handful of things, and hopefully it will deter him from emptying it out again. Yeah right.

Growth U/S Update

I had another growth ultrasound, and Isabella's looking good! She's right on target for weight. She's weighing in at about 5 pounds which is what she should be at, since I am 33 weeks along. However, I'm not looking good. For the last few days, my hands and feet have been swelling. But, in my defense, it's only when I'm walking and doing a lot of stuff. But the doctor at the U/S asked about my blood pressure, and I told her it was a little high at my last OB appt and that I had swelling the last few days. She immediately requested that I start NSTs right away, so I'll be going for my first NST within the next couple of days instead of next week. The Dr said she wants to keep an eye out for pre-eclampsia since high BP and GD are risk factors for it. This is all very reminiscent of my 1st pregnancy. I know that since pre-e is being discussed it basically means that baby girl has a better chance out of my body than in, and it also means that from the time of diagnosis, whether it be days, weeks, or a month, she can come at any time. And it's time to get a bag ready. Let the testing begin. I have a love/hate relationship with NSTs. They give great peace of mind, but they are very time consuming. I could be there for an hour, or 3 or 4. It all depends on how Ms. Isabella's doing and how my BP is doing. I knew I would be here at this point with testing again, but I had a tiny amount of hope that I would not. I think I mind it a whole lot more this time because I have Jacob, and I don't like leaving him to go lay in a bed for a few hours. But I know it's for the good of his sister. Ah, well. I got to do what I got to do. Hopefully, Isabella and I come through healthy and we make it these next 7 weeks with flying colors.

Eating All By Himself

As Jacob gets bigger, so does his quest for independence. Recently, he's become more and more adamant about feeding himself, and I guess it's time to let him make a mess. For the last few months, I've been contemplating on moving him to a booster, and this last weekend it was finally time. The final decision came down to the fact that he enjoyed sitting with us for meals and he's been feeding him self well. He's been feeding himself for the last 4 months, and drinking from a cup has gotten much better in the last 3 months. He's learned to control the pour now, and he thinks he's an expert with ANY cup. This is not so, especially when he gets a nose full of liquid. Yuck. He hates that. Okay, so let me be really honest. I hate messes. And I loved that his mess was in a controlled area on the highchair, now it's in a bigger communal area. And well, lets face it, he takes forever to eat, sometimes he not only gets frustrated, but so do I. And that's when I have to step in and feed him. Finally, let's be super real, we needed the space for baby girl's swing, and other gadgets that she probably won't use. Everything looks great for now, but come 2 months, and this place is going to be a mess, and a zoo. I get the heebeegeebees thinking about. But for now, I try to look forward to Jacob's new mile stones, and things to come.

His booster...


He loves to eat fruit all by himself...


He hates to eat watery things all by himself (momma does too), hence the dirty bib...


Drinking from a cup...


He likes to say, "Ahhh," after a nice drink...


And now, for pictures, he says "Cheese!"

32 Weeks: Dr Update & Belly

Just under 2 months, or less, before she's here! Ack! I can't believe it. I have so much to do still. I need to clean up her and Jacob's closet, separate Jacob's neutral clothes, buy those last minute random things, and get the rest of her part of the room ready. Eek.

I had my 32 week appointment with my OB, and things have changed within the last week/month. It's official - I am on bedtime insulin. That means every night, before I go to bed, I have to give myself a shot with 2 units of insulin. It's really not that bad. The finger pricks hurt more, and I have to do those 4 x a day. And my blood pressure has gone up a bit. One of my biggest fears. Not crazy high but I will be monitored. And because I'm on insulin, the baby will be monitored with twice weekly Non-stress Tests, NSTs. Yup, I did these with Jacob and now with Isabella. We'll be hooked up to a machine to check her heart rate and movement, and my contractions. And I'll be hooked up to the BP machine. We'll also get another growth U/S to see how she's growing. It's appointment craziness. And if that weren't enough, I've started to swell. I suppose with the heat over the weekend, and being up and around all day everyday, and not pushing the liquids, I had cankles. Oh, and I have carpel tunnel. Yeah, luckily I got control of that one 'cause then I wouldn't get sleep either. But the swelling has gone back down. I just have to stay off my feet and drink more water. Honestly, I'm glad it's not anything more serious. Despite having GD and doing the insulin and NSTs, I'm very lucky, and I know I could have it much worse. So far, Isabella looks healthy, and that's my ultimate goal.

32 week belly