Yikes!

Well it has been an interesting weekend around our house . . . it started with red dots on Lily's torso Saturday morning and quickly spread to the rest of her body. Within a couple hours she was completely covered. Of course I freaked out when I saw the dots not expecting them when I lifted her shirt up, Ryan came running. We were able to get into the MD that day and they said she had an allergic reaction to amoxicillin.

I should back up and give a little background info, I thought Lily's voice had sounded a little strange last Wednesday (I thought it was a stuffy nose), we were playing doctor on Friday evening when I looked in her throat and saw the ugliest throat. So we went to the doctor's office on Saturday for strep throat, although the strep test was negative Lily was around her cousins that were positive for strep, so the MD went ahead and decided to treat her.

Well the fun continued this past Sunday, her face and lips were swollen and she no longer had dots it had turned to one big splotch (like a bad sunburn) so I called the MD they said it was OK and call back if her rash starts to turn purple. Well of course it did and we ended up at Children's Hospital that evening. They had no answers for us they thought it could be either a drug allergy or a virus, possibly mono.

So yesterday we went back to the MD office and finally got a diagnosis after 3 MDs looking at her and me asking for a mono test. Lily just told them all her dots were gone and they just giggled at her. They actually thought she had something called HSP which displays as a purple rash and causes serious kidney problems. Well . . . she has mono! When someone with mono is given amoxicillin a terrible rash develops and is not an allergy. Tomorrow we are heading back to the MD and hopefully off to South Dakota for Kyle and Ethnie's wedding, Lily's dying to "Chicken Dance" with Kyle.

By the way, this is the first time Lily has ever been on an antibiotic or sick. Although, she really hasn't acted sick at all. Mono in young kids is very mild and a lot of times it goes undetected.

Phoenix Trip

We spent the last week of July in Phoenix visiting friends and family. The majority of the time was spent in Grandma's swimming pool. Lily is getting a lot more comfortable in the pool, but still doesn't like to "go under". We finished up with swimming lessons last week and Lily's instructor dunked her on the last day, she was so proud of herself.

Drew's big accomplishment was rolling over! Of course, he did it for the first time for Grandma and mom and dad didn't see it for another day. He still really doesn't roll over it reminds me of Lily, once he's done it that is it. Just check it off for the records.

This is Drew with his favorite toy "Miss Spider" boy he sure loves to "talk" to her. Most of the time Miss Spider is attacking him! Drew just turned 4 months yesterday . . . he's growing up too fast!

Here's a picture of Lily with her birthday buddy Kenzie, so of you may remember Mandy and I were in the hospital together with the girls being born on the same day. Wow, talking with Mandy the two girls really are twins. Now I feel all of Lily's silly behavior must be related to the day she was born on because Kenzie has the same funny quirks! They were too cute together.

Baptism and Butterfly Release

Well, the same weekend we had Lily's Barnyard Bash we also had the kids baptized and attended the 2nd Annual Butterfly Release. Needless to say it was a crazy busy weekend with lots of cooking and wonderful family around. Here are some photos of the Butterfly release, it's just so amazing to see all the butterflies. It was also amazing to look back at how far a small group of us have come since the same time last year. There are 7 of us and 5 of us had new babies with us to share the event with (2 were not trying for kids). Check out additional photos of the event at the link below, there are some cute photos of Lily (she stands out with her pink dress).

http://www.rowantreefoundation.com/

Yes, that is Drew in a dress . . . Ryan is appalled. This is the same gown I was baptized in 33 years ago. Drew hated it, he was SO hot and screamed during the service. Lily also had her moments during the service by yelling "I do!" - it was very funny!

Update #2 - Drew and Father's Day!

Here's Drew . . . gaining weight like a champ! Look at that double chin . . . I just love chubby babies! His rolls are just starting to show up along with rubberband wrists. He just started sleeping through the night, 8p-5a, this is something I never knew with Lily. She didn't sleep through the night until she was over a year old.



At his 2 month appt, he was weighing in at 11# 11oz!

Here are some more cute photos of Drewy!

Ryan has working very long hours over the past few months, some days even getting in the shower at 3:30a after changing Drew's diaper. His crazy project at work was successfully completed and now he's back to "sleeping in" until 5a. So, for Father's Day I decided to surprise him with a Traeger Smoker - I got a lot of feedback from friends and decided on this smoker. It has been fabulous as I don't have to cook dinner. Here's Ryan after smoking his first meal, a pork chop. He's also made 2 pork shoulders and a turkey - all were AMAZING! Look out Famous Dave's!

So at Drew's 2 month appt he had 2 shots, plus he was in the 50th percentile for height, weight and head circumference. Let's see how long that lasts as Lily stopped climbing the charts at 4 months. He cried terribly after his shots Lily just said "ouch". Here's Drew with his "bandaid bling" and Lily got a couple of stickers for being good. On the way home she kept telling me she was a pirate . . . you decide!

I'm thinking she meant she had tattoos, it was not a pretty site the next day after I had to rip them off her skin. She was marked for a week!

Finally an Update

I've been receiving harassing emails and phone calls wondering when in the world I'm going to update with pictures . . . you know who you are (I'm sure everyone else is thanking you!). Where do I begin? I guess I'll go in order of the pictures on the camera.

Lily turned 3 on June 15th . . . here's our little party we had at home and then we went over to Little Monkey Bizness to run around! Thank goodness we didn't come home with any unwanted friends in our hair from this costume.

"Look I'm a kangaroo!"

We had a Barnyard Birthday Bash for Lily, I felt kind of bad since she didn't have a party last year since we were living at the hotel. I decided to have a petting zoo after a recommendation from a friend, it was great. There were chickens, ducks, rabbits, a goat, mini pony, alpaca, llama and full size horse. The kids loved it, I also had a egg hunt for the kids in the backyard as the chickens had come and laid their eggs that morning.

Here are some photos from the party! I decided to make a cake and the cupcakes, as I'm decorating them the tornado siren is going off! I just prayed my cupcakes would make it! FYI there was a tornado that hit about a mile or so from our house earlier in the month, I was looking out the window and told Ryan that I saw a funny looking cloud, he just blew me off and low and behold it was a tornado!

Sleepless on Ottawa Place

Holy moley . . . are Ryan and I in need of sleep hence, why I haven't been blogging! I finally took Drew to the MD on Thursday after many sleepless nights and days filled with screaming/crying. Come to find out he has acid reflux, they ended up putting him on Zantac and life is getting much better. Now, Lily is sick, poor thing doesn't have a voice and has been whispering today!

Drew is gaining weight like a champ . . . he's already up to 9.6#! Starting out fast like his big sister, hopefully he's not going to stop gaining at 6 months. Boy, has Lily really gone through a growth spurt this past winter. Last summer she was wearing 12-18 month in clothes now she's wearing 3T! Lily is loving being a big sister, she tells me her baby is ready to come out of her tummy (it's a boy and his name is going to be Drew). We just found out she will be able to move up to the next level of dance class, it involves ballet and tap.

We had pictures taken 2 weeks ago and just got the proofs back yesterday, you can check out some of the photos on our photographer's blog http://stefanieburt.com/blog/

We planted the garden last weekend and I'm almost done planting flowers, who knows how things will turn out . . . I hope I've got a green thumb. Ryan was able to build a small fence to keep the rabbits out of the garden, so far so good.

Oh and lastly Ryan has been busy playing exterminator . . . we have a bit of a mouse problem in our single car garage (it's our storage unit). We never go in there so we are not sure how long we've had this little "problem". So far he's got 5, we couldn't figure out for the longest time why all their "treats" were gone (about 8 goodies) but no dead mice (I guess 3 died the first day with the treats - momma and 2 babies) , come to find out the little shits were hoarding the treats. We found a pile of them underneath the stairs, we then emptied the enitre garage and didn't find a thing. Ryan sealed the entire garage and set out the treats again, the cycle then started again until we got smart and bought the old fashion traps . . . "GOTCHA" - I'm so hoping they are finally gone! I guess we'll find out tomorrow morning.

Where Have I Been???

NOTE: I WROTE THIS AND DIDN'T POST IT!!! SORRY!

First of all, I'd better show the newest picture of Drew that Ryan took while I ran to the Nursery yesterday (getting ready to plant our first vegetable garden). This picture may look familiar to some of you . . . yep, Ryan took the same photo with Lily when he was babysitting. Do I see a trend?

My mom left on Saturday after visiting the Haynes gang for the past 10 days, she was such a huge help. I was able to nap during the days and early mornings when Lily would wake up at 6a, sometimes earlier. Of course it wouldn't be a trip with my mom unless we did some sort of project . . . well, we were able to make an upholstered headboard, curtains for the guest bedroom as well as Lily's room (hoping to keep out the sunlight and encourage her to sleep a little later - so far it's working).

Mother's Day was very nice, we didn't do much . . . a perfect day! Plus, I got on the scale and lost weight! I'm still waiting for my gift from the birth of Drew, so Ryan and I had a running joke that why not make it a Mother's Day gift at the same time? Now, since there was nothing for Mother's Day we'll also just include our 10 year Anniversary into it as well (May 29th)! I guess I'll see if that happens or else he will be including my birthday as well!

It's Not Broken!

I haven't been updating lately because of a badly sprained tailbone and my SI joint (something to do with your hips) was out of whack. Yesterday, I saw 4 doctors in 4 hours. My OB was great in getting everything organized, she thought due to the amount of pain and swelling I had broke my tailbone during delivery. I didn't know you could sprain your tailbone, but I guess it's most likely related to Drew sitting sideways and carrying him so low. But, my physical therapist was able to "pop" my hip back into place and I've felt so much better and I'm able to sit for longer periods on my "donut". It's my darn loose joints, that's what got me in trouble with my shoulder, the doctor thought he needed to tighten my shoulder and the rest is history. It's not like I'm a contortionist!


I also have to wear an Ace bandage around my hips to help prevent them from "popping" back out, so it seems to really accentuate my bowl of jelly belly. So Lily had such kind words for me "When is your next baby coming out?" . . . if you are in need of a little self esteem don't come to Lily. I liked our friend's daughter's comment better, so Katie (mom) told Taylor (daughter - 5y) that I was having the baby she said "I thought Jenny was just really full" - not knowing I was pregnant. Too funny what kids say!

I can't believe Drew's already a week old and I'm going to be alone with Lily and Drew starting Monday. My mom shows up on Thursday afternoon for 10 days and hopefully we can get her to get back on "schedule". She's been such a pill this past week and her behavior has been a challenge for the both of us. But, I must say she's been doing great using the potty! It's the only way she can hold Drew . . . we are such mean parents, but it's working . . . along with the chocolate.

Here's a picture that Ryan took, he's dubbed it "Hospital Bling" (5 bracelets). Look closely and notice I have no knuckles, I was super swollen to the point my skin was hanging over my socks. Sexy!

Lily continues to let everyone know she has a baby sister, not sure if Drew will ever be know as a boy as Ryan and I are always saying "she". Poor thing!

We Are Home!

Finally an update . . . that's what I hear a few of you saying in your heads. I know I haven't posted any pictures of Drew and trust me I feel terrible. We were discharged yesterday, Drew slept the entire way home from the hospital. It was different this time because he was in the backseat all by himself since we now have 2 carseats.

It has been a difficult 2 nights, Drew seems to have his nights and days mixed up. Then there is Lily to entertain, she is a big helper (a bit much at times). Plus, she wants to try out all of her gear (swing, vibrating chair, crib) to make sure it's safe for Drew. As soon as we have the DVD completed we will post her first reaction to Drew (tomorrow we have a dance recital which Ryan will record for me). She was funny and the best big sister.

Here are some pictures of Lily and Drew in the same poses (Lily on left):

Well, I'd better get ready to head to the pediatrician's office, Drew is a bit jaundice so we are having him checked out.

Drew Kenton Haynes

Drew arrived at 9:54 this morning, weighing in at a whopping 6.5# (a whole pound less than Lily) and measuring 19.5". He's doing great, we had a little scare with his heart rate dropping and the need to get him out ASAP. He looks just like Lily as a baby, I can't believe how tiny he is! He's sleeping like a champ already, something we never experienced with Lily. He's just beautiful and we feel so blessed.

I had a lot of blood loss, so I didn't do so well afterwards hence why this is coming out so late. We had his name narrowed down to 2 (Drew and Jack), Ryan kept asking me which one. At this point, I hadn't really gotten to see him because of being sick. Finally, I left the decision up to him . . . I love it.

Thanks for all the positive thoughts and prayers!

Good Morning

Still waiting . . . they have just decided to get aggressive with my Pitocin. I have a feeling I will be asking for the epidural soon! The plan is to break my water between 7-8 this am and hopefully baby will be here by 8:30a.

I've been really comfortable, I really have not felt too many of the contractions. I feel about 3-4 an hour but my nurse tells me they are 2-3 minutes apart. She thinks I should go without the epidural . . . I just laughed.

It's finally snowing!

Update

I decided to call my OB this am, after my second mom/MD (aka Jill) thought it might be a good idea with the big snow storm arriving tonight. As I might not make it to my appt tomorrow, so I called and was able to change it to this afternoon (thanks for the great advice Jill). The latest snow update says we to expect between 14-26" of snow. Our nurse mentioned that lots of babies were being born and they thought it was because of the barometric pressure change with this storm.

I was almost 4cm - that's when my OB is able to admit me to the hospital. She also decided to strip my membranes and it was very easy for her so she knew that we would be having the baby soon. We ran home, got our bags and a bite to eat and headed back to the hospital, we checked in at 6:30p. I was trying to get Ryan to hurry because of the contractions I was having at home, then we get to the hospital and everything has stopped. We just finished walking the halls for the past hour and barely any contractions, we were also trying to figure out a baby name. No such luck yet!

So I feel great right now, I know that it could change at anytime, my OB is planning on starting the Pitocin at 11:30p . . . epidural please! Hopefully, Hershey Kiss will be here soon! My OB is predicting around 3am - you know we are all psychic around here!

False Alarm

I thought for sure HK would be joining us yesterday, lots of contractions and just not feeling well. Not the case, maybe today??? Or maybe HK was just rearranging it's little body around as it's feet were still just below my hips vs being up in my ribs like Lily. I must say, I noticed this am that HK has dropped even more (I didn't think that was possible).

Ryan's parents are planning on watching Lily, we spoke to his mom last night to give her a heads up on what was going on and she mentioned the weather. It's 70 degrees today and in no way did I think a big snow storm was planned for Friday and Saturday - maybe rain at the most. Carol tells Ryan, the weather forecasters are saying "The biggest snow storm of the season", great just my luck! Sure enough we watched the news last night and confirmed the report. So it sounds like his parents might be showing up today to make sure there is someone here to watch Lily. During our last snow storm, a friend of mine was scheduled for a c-section and it was rescheduled due to the weather, I hope this doesn't happen to us.

I don't know what is with men lately . . . first of all they ask me when I'm due, then they ask what I'm having. I respond "I don't know" (to the gender) and these are the responses I've received in return "Well is it a boy or girl?" (just in case I didn't understand the question) or "What do you mean, didn't they tell you?" Then the guy at the Costco gas station told me yesterday "It's a boy, I've got 3 girls at home and my wife never carried like that."

So it's your turn to put in your last guesses? To make it fair for everyone, I want you to know, my sister Nicole has been asking her Magic 8 Ball and the responses she's been receiving always point to a girl. Then there's the psychic that has predicted that it's a boy. I know it's all very scientific! Good Luck!

Check back over the next few days on the outcome!

Frozen Popsicle

A quick update on Hershey Kiss after my OB appt yesterday, things continue to look well. I'm still 2cm and 40% effaced - ugh! I thought for sure I was going to be 4cm and therefore would be admitted to the hospital. I even went as far as packing a bag, although I didn't put it in the car. Looks like our original plan for induction will occur on Saturday and HK will not be arriving early. But, the best news of all . . . I didn't gain any weight! Hip Hip Hooray!!!

So yesterday we had our first occupational therapy (OT) session for Lily, I went and had her evaluated by the school system here in Denver and they found that she has low-tone in her hands. So now we get free (OT) sessions twice a month until she turns 3 then she may continue on services through the preschool program. Although, our OT can't believe they qualified her because she's really not that delayed and she's off the charts for vocabulary. She didn't pass holding a crayon correctly (she fists it vs pincher grip), didn't know how to use scissors (I've never given her a pair) and she's not riding a bike (she's too short to reach the pedals). I think we will probably pass on the preschool and allow other children that really need the services to have her spot, but first we will have her reevaluated.

So, I've been VERY hot this pregnancy so our house stays pretty cool, around 63 degrees and dipping down to 58 at night on the main floor (master bedroom is on this level), I must say Lily's room is upstairs and we do keep it warmer for her. But, since this OT lady was coming over I thought I should turn up the heat in the house to prevent her from contacting child protective services on our house being too cold. I forgot to turn the heat back down on the main level last night, therefore the upstairs heater didn't kick on, I heard Lily at 4am today stirring in bed and calling for me. I kept thinking why am I SO hot . . . it was 68 degrees in our room and 60 in her room. Ryan quickly turned up the heat upstairs and we never heard a peep from her until she got up this am. My poor little Popsicle!

Then this am we went to an Easter Egg hunt here in our neighborhood, it started raining about 30 minutes prior to the start and the wind is whipping terribly here today. We decided to go out and venture the cold and let Lily enjoy her first hunt. She picked up about 3 eggs and said "I want to go home, my hands are too cold", we said our goodbyes and were going to head for home. Then the light bulb went off, Lily found out the eggs were filled with candy . . . the cold or rain wasn't going to stop her now. She was on a mission and filled her basket! Now I have ammo for potty training, she can't open the eggs until she at least sits on the potty. She's so my child - motivated by candy!

Silly Lily

Last night we all attended the "Siblings Class" at the hospital. The first thing the instructor comments on is how old the kids are in the class with the exception of one . . . Lily, she is 2 years younger than the youngest in class. This is not a good start for us, so the instructor wants each of the kids to introduce themselves and tell everyone if they are expecting a little brother or sister. So our turn comes, Lily says she's 2 and we are having a "baby sister . . . named Dorothy". I then have to explain that we do not know the gender of the baby and Dorothy is the name of Elmo's fish.

Next, the kiddos are watching a video, Lily has sidled up next to a little boy and begins to rub his back. He continues to move over but she's determined and continues to inch her way back to him. He was 6 and very kind to Lily. Then she decides during the film it's time to show everyone her "handstand" about 6 times. "Look at me! I'm doing a handstand!"

Then each child was given an anatomically correct baby to practice changing a diaper on, I just prayed she would get a baby girl and she did. She accidentally saw Ryan get out of the shower last weekend and she asked him what was wrong with his "butt". I'm not ready for that conversation yet!

Finally, the instructor asks Lily "Where's a good place to hold the baby?" and her response was "on a horse!" We just giggled along with the rest of the adults in the class . . . only our Lily Bug!

Lily Snaps!

I've officially fallen apart, I can barely walk due to all my weight gain and fluid retention - my feet are really paying for it. I saw my OB yesterday, we've decided on an induction date of April 18th (39 weeks), which is nice because Ryan will only have to take off 5 days from work and will get 9 days total with the two weekends. Then my mom shows up for 10 days, who knows maybe we will be crazy and start up our sweatshop as I still have projects to be done around the house.

Currently, I'm 2 cm dilated but my OB would be surprised if I went into labor this week. Looks like Jen and Amy are left in the running for the "How much weight will Jenny gain?" Who knows how much I would end up with if I actually waited until the baby decided to come. Although, my OB did say babies born at altitude are smaller, she's guessing HK will be about 6.5#. So my response to her was, "So do the mom's gain more weight at altitude?" She just laughed.

I still have no idea if HK is a girl or boy, I flip flop everyday. Ryan and I can not agree on names, although the middle names are set no matter what.

Here's a humiliating story that occured with Lily, we had a playdate with a neighbor boy the same age as Lily. Let's just say she did not think much about sharing her toys, and finally snapped. She put poor Holden in a choke hold while he was on the sit and spin, needless to say this was the end of our playdate. I was mortified. I have no idea where she saw this behavior, my guess is that this does not occur on Sesame Street. I guess if the college thing doesn't work out she can always become a WWF wrestler, maybe she will be called Liger Lily. Uncle Kyle taught her about Ligers and the last time we went to the zoo she asked to see the ligers. Also, the potty training has ended . . . looks like Justin is going to have to come over everyday every 3 hours to help out.

Another Miracle!

Lily has finally done the impossible . . . or at least that is how it feels. She peed on her potty for the first time tonight. The funny thing is, we had friends over and she asked "Uncle Justin" to get her potty for her because she needed to use it. He came out to ask me if that was OK, I kinda blew it off and said sure but have her get herself undressed, thinking she's just trying to get Justin's attention. Ryan and I were not even there for her BIG event. She just came out and said I did it, of course I've heard this a million times, but it was finally true. Way to go Lily! Hopefully, she will be just as successful tomorrow! We are expecting a big snow storm tomorrow 8-22 inches, so it will be the perfect day to reinforce the potty!

It's a Miracle . . . It's a Miracle!

Remember that song from Culture Club! Well that's how things feel these past few days. First a friend of mine found out that she and her husband were approved to adopt their son. They will be traveling to Ethiopia around the same time this little one arrives. Congrats Shannon and Will!

Again, early on Friday morning I had the cramping, Ryan ended up getting up and heading into work at 4:15a since he wasn't sleeping anyways. I had my 35 week check up yesterday, I'm still dilated to 1 cm and 30% effaced, although my OB does not feel that HK will be arriving in the next week. Also, my OB decided to move my ultrasound up to yesterday instead of waiting until next week. We found that HK has moved to the head down position - YIPPEE! That must have been the reason for all the discomfort I was feeling! Now, I wonder what the psychic was thinking when she said I would end up with a c-section. And no, I do not base my life or medical care around what I'm told. HK is weighing in at 5.5#, we finally saw the baby in 3D and it looks just like Lily!

My aunt was here this past week and we went on a little road trip . . . I'll try and post on that later!

Jillian's Angel Day

One year ago today we lost Jillian, it seems so strange that it's been a year. How did I survive this past year? What would life be like with Jillian? Oh, all the questions and answers I will never know. One thing I know for sure is there are a few special friends I met in my support group that made getting through this past year possible. I can't thank them enough for all their support.

Today, we were planning on going out to the angel statue and celebrating Jillian's life. Things didn't go as planned, I woke up at 3a with terrible cramps and nausea. I thought is this labor or is Hershey Kiss finally turning? This went on for about 2 hours, then I finally fell back to sleep. I still didn't feel well when Lily woke, I finally called my OB around 11a after still having mild cramping, she told me to go to the hospital to be checked out.

First we went to the Angel, I didn't want to miss out on going there today. We stopped and picked up sandwiches, a little cake and flowers. Also, Lily picked out some balloons (she wanted the 3 foot Winnie the Pooh - but was able to settle on 4 normal size balloons - one being Winnie). On the way to the Angel, I told Lily we were going to give 2 of the balloons to Jillian (one popped in the car) and she could keep one - of course she wanted the Winnie balloon. Then a few minutes later she says "I think Jillian only needs 1 balloon and I'll have 2!" Well, Jillian got her 2 balloons and her flower and Lily her Winnie balloon.

On the way back home, Ryan dropped me off at the hospital to get started and took Lily home for her nap. Our friend Justin came over to take care of Lily for the next 4 hours. The hospital was the last place I wanted to be today of all days, I'm 34 weeks today - I'm not ready for HK to be born quite yet I'd like to get to at least 36 weeks. I thought maybe I was just "doing" this to myself with all the stress of Jillian's Angel day. Not the case, I was 1 cm dilated and contracting and was given 2 doses of Terbutaline to stop the contractions. HK looks great according to the on call OB, so that was good news, but remains sideways.

I really wanted to have a balloon release out at the statue with my friends, but yesterday I decided against it at the last minute - maybe I subconsciously knew something would prevent me. Another day we will have our balloon release and lunch.

Well, it's 7:15p and I survived, it's true what everyone says the lead up to the day is the worst part.

I miss you so much Jillian, not a day goes by that I don't think of you. I look forward to the day that we will meet in heaven. You are forever in our hearts. I love you always, Mommy

It's Done!

I've finally finished my first quilt from start to finish, previously I've only pieced the tops together and have not actually quilted them. I made this quilt for my best friend Jill's little Jade who was born January 27. I know I'm a little late, but I decided 2 weeks before she was due that I would make her a quilt. Then with my bum shoulder I was only to quilt about an hour a day, so it seemed to take a while. Then it sat on the dining room table for a month until I got the binding on it (candy strip on the edge of quilt). Jill did a very bright candyland theme for Jade's nursery - so if you look those are little pieces of candy or umbrellas as Lily calls them.

Ok, I also felt the need to get Jade her first Costco cake. For some strange reason, she does not like sweets? Completely incomprehensible to me. Anyways, my question is "How can you have a Candyland room and not like sweets?" I see my dietitian skills coming out and changing that!

My mom was here last week, it was a regular old sweatshop around here. We made curtains for the study, dining room, kitchen and nursery. Plus, we emptied out Lily's toy room and converted it to the nursery. It looks great, we used the same stuff I made for Lily's nursery!

I had an OB appt, yes girls the weight continues to pack on, it will be pretty close on if I top the scales at 70#. I think I'm going to sue Girl Scouts for all the weight I have gained from their delicious cookies. I guess the 18 boxes we ordered was a bit excessive!

Hershey's Kiss is still laying transverse "sideways". At this point it is unlikely that the baby will change positions as there is just not a lot of room for the baby to move. Plus, my feelings are the baby has been in this position for the entire pregnancy so why would it change at this point? We have an ultrasound scheduled the last Friday of this month (36 weeks) and if HK has not moved they will try (from the outside) to turn HK with the use of an epidural of course at 37 weeks. I'm really freaked out over having a c-section, so I'm going to email my psychic and ask how this baby is coming out of me.

I finally had a dream about HK's gender, the baby whispered to me "I'm a boy!" - I guess we will see!

Many Changes . . .

I wrote this back on Jan 20th . . . not sure why I didn't post it!

Over the Christmas holiday we decided it was time to finally move Lily to her big girl bed. She transitioned great, she doesn't get out of bed until we come and get her out. She just yells "Mom/Dad I'm awake" and seriously she continues to lay there until we come and get her.

But, one day she decided she wanted to nap in her crib and I thought OK, after about 30 minutes I hear "Giddy up horsey . . . faster faster" after thinking about it for a minute I figured out that she was riding the rail on the crib (the video monitor is pointed at her big girl bed not the crib) . Sure enough I get up to her room and find her riding her horsey. The crib has since been removed, but she loves to ride the pommel horse during gymnastics class.

Lily has also mastered recognizing all of her uppercase letters and their sounds. We have the Leap Frog videos that are amazing, she learned it all from Letter Factory within a week. Now, we are watching Word Factory and they teach how to read. Who knows maybe she will be reading next week?

I'm in need of suggestions on potty training, I know I shouldn't be so concerned about it as she's 2 1/2 but I'm ready and really don't want to have 2 in diapers if I can help it. She is extremely motivated by chocolate, not sure why???

I have an appt with my OB on Thursday, as of my last appt "Hershey's Kiss" is still in the breech position - I have 5 weeks left before the baby will need "help" in turning. The last time the baby moved a little bit (5 weeks ago), it was painful so I will know! Also, I got my results of my glucose tolerance test back . . . can you believe it I passed with flying colors!!! Bring on the CAKE!

Princess Lily

It's official, Lily has finally decided that she IS a princess. We started ballet last week, a requirement of class is a leotard, ballet shoes and tights. She was beyond excited to get ready for class. We have taken mom and tot dance classes and she also took an creative movement class on her own before Christmas, she continues to take this class in addition to her ballet class.
So we went to class on Thursday, she was by far the youngest in the class and I'd been told the instructor was extremely firm with the kids. Some how Lily's age is listed as 3 1/2 instead of 2 1/2, the age requirement is 3-5 year olds for the class and most kids are 4. Class ended and the instructor said she did great! What a relief, because I'm not sure how I would have told her she could not go back to ballet.

Today, we went out to the Angel Statue and ended up taking a walk afterwards (trying to get Jill to deliver her baby), Lily walked about 1/2 mile and then proceeded to take a 3 hour nap this afternoon. I might be walking everyday!

What a beautiful day it was yesterday . . . President Obama!

Hershey Kiss Update

First of all, to update you all on Hershey Kiss I'm currently 26 weeks along and growing rapidly. Last Thursday we had an appt and of course there was drama, the story of my life. I had bought a new scale 2 weeks before my appt because Lily has broken our scale and turned it into a "friendly" scale, it reads 12 pounds off at least. So with all the holidays I really wanted to keep track of my weight as it had jumped the previous month. So, I tried hard to maintain the 5 pounds I'd gained over the holidays and was doing great until Monday. All of the sudden my weight started to creep up and then by Thursday I was up a whopping 7# for the week - yep if your math was correct I gained 12 pounds in 1 month.

With the sudden weight gain the doctor was concerned about preeclampsia, this threw me into a panic as the only treatment is to deliver the baby. I'm not even sure if a 25 week old baby is given heroic measures here in Colorado, I was too scared to find out. The blood work came back OK and my Doctor said "Your big weight gain is just an unfortunate part of pregnancy".

Although, if you remember, I wasn't a lightweight with Lily (70 pound gain) but my Dr keeps saying you lost all the weight plus some. My friend Jill, told me that she read an article on pregnant women that gain excessive amounts of weight, it's kind of like the body's way of hoarding the calories because it's afraid of going into starvation mode. I'm holding on to that this is my body's way of dealing with me pregnant, I really haven't eaten much differently than I typically do. As, I typically eat a ton of sweets!

All seems well with Hershey - I can't remember if I told you but we did not find out the gender of the baby. I did catch-up on growth by 2 weeks (we are now measuring right on) and the baby is now sitting in the 1 and 7 o'clock position. Getting a little closer to the non-breech position, I was told of this website spinning babies to help get the baby into a non-breech position by doing simple exercises.

Let's start a pool on "How much weight will Jenny gain?" My guess is a mere 65# if I'm lucky! I guess it's funny to me, a dietitian gaining an excessive amount of weight.

Oh by the way, so far I've gained 46#, although 20 of that is weight I haven't lost from Jillian. We knew we were going to do IVF again and the more weight on your body the more successful it is.