We are still here....

Hello there....long time no blog! We are still here. And doing very well. This will just be a short post since I need to get in the shower so we can head to Grammy's house and the XMas Tree Shop (and maybe DSW too!)

Things here are great. Jack is a blast. Already 3.5 months, we had his baptism yesterday. He is a big man. So much bigger than his sister. Happy little guy, always smiling and laughing. Only fusses when he is hungry and tired for the most part. Still not sleeping through every night but only gets up once, eats and back to bed. Sometimes I wonder if he really needs to eat, he doesn't take a pacifier and I know with Molly we probably would have tried just giving her the bink to see if she would fall back to sleep but that isn't option so we just assume he is hungry.

I've been very busy lately. I am working between 20-25 hours a week back at my old office, but we have a new client and I am the Membership & Grassroots Coordinator for the Connecticut Restaurant Association. I'm really enjoying it. I work most of my hours from home, and go to Hartford once or twice a week. The next few weeks I will be going up a lot since it is the end of session. Molly and Jack will be staying with a friend of mine who was a nanny, but now has a 3 year old boy and a 7 month old boy. We did a trial run last Thursday and everything went well, Molly didn't even want to leave.

What else? Signing Molly up for pre-K for the fall. She will go full day Tuesday and Thursday (8:30 to 3 pm.) I will work or just enjoy sometime with just Jack. I think she will enjoy it, she is so social and would much rather be out with her friends.

Well, off to the shower.

Welcome John Joseph III "Jack"!

Having a Baby....Take 3! What a few weeks it has been! It's so nice to finally be at home with DH, Molly and Jack.

We begin again Tuesday morning, January 20th. I was up for a better part of the night, just thinking about things, what was going to happen if the pitocin didn't work again, but also just the general excitement/anxiety of knowing and hoping that Tuesday would be the day one way or the other. It definitely helped that Molly was already down at my mom's, so I was also able to sleep in just a bit since we didn't have to be to the hospital until between 8 and 9 am. We arrived at the hospital just before 9 am, got admitted and headed upstairs. We were given the same birthing room as we had Molly in, so that felt like a good sign and we were getting off to a good start. They got the Pitocin running at 9:55 am. There was a little bit of miscommunication between the nurse and my doctor so the nurse didn't up my dose as fast as the doctor would have liked. I was having contractions every 2-3 minutes, but the doctor knew I needed significantly more to make them contractions that actually did something.

The doctor came in around 12:30 to check me and I was between 2 and 3 cms, and she said he had moved down some more but still not far along to break my water. She'd be back at 2:30. 2:30....still the same. My cervix was also over the left, which made it difficult for them to examine me as well as feel exactly where the head was. I asked her about some of my options at that point and she was really hesitant to even discuss a c-section and mentioned doing another round of cervidil that night or maybe another type of gel. This was the last thing I wanted! I don't think I could have handled another night of it.

Finally between 3 and 4 pm I started having contractions that felt like they were doing something. My entire upper abdomen was tight constantly tight and while not incredibly painful, they felt different. Good news, when she checked me at 4:30ish I was a solid 3 cms and he had moved more center so she tried breaking my water. She was so close and then he moved and she couldn't do it without risk of a prolapsed cord. Since I had made some progress she was hopeful. She was heading home at 5 pm and the other doctor would be in between 5:30 and 6 and hopefully he would be able to break the water then.

Good news at this point was that because I wasn't officially in labor I got to eat dinner. I had a nice Chicken Caesar Salad and a fruit platter. Yum. The other doctor came in around 6 pm to check me. No progress!! He said the cervix was back over to the left and the head was “bouncing” and he didn't feel comfortable even trying to break my water. The other good news was that he was definitely more proactive in the c-section department. He told me he would give me another 1 to 1.5 hours and if there was still no progress we would have to make a call. Which I was fine with. After 9+ hours on pitocin with little to no progress from where I was last week, I needed to know this baby would be coming and soon. I called my mom to let her know what was going on and that it looked like I might end up with a c-section. While it wasn't what I wanted, I also needed things to be done.

I was still having contractions every 2-3 minutes, but they started to become less painful again. They upped my pit one more time and apparently that did the trick. At about 7 pm I started having more painful contractions again. In the next half an hour I was in serious pain. I was in the recliner and breathing through them, but kept looking at the clock knowing that it was either going to be worth it or it would be over then because we would be looking at a c-section. My new nurse, who was fantastic, came in at 7:30 and told me the doctor was ready to examine me again so I went to the bathroom and came back out. I was standing and looking at the monitor and saw that my contractions weren't even going down...they were basically flatlined at the type non stop. I was seriously afraid my uterus was hyperstimulating and freaking out. But what was actually happening was I was finally in labor! The doctor came in and had to wait for a contraction to die down before examining me but it took only 2 seconds for him to say you are 5 cms, let's break it! That was at 7:44 pm. What a bizarre feeling to have it all come out at once, I had a natural gusher with Molly, but not the same as the hook. Which really didn't hurt as compared to the contractions I was having...

At that point I asked if they could turn the pit down because I was having contractions non stop and I needed to be able to breathe. The doc suggested an epidural and I said I really didn't want one if I was progressing this fast and I went from 3 cms to 5 in 90 minutes and felt like I could handle it a little bit longer. The doctor agreed to turn it down as long as the contractions kept up, he didn't want to lose momentum. I'm not sure if it was the pit going down or the water breaking, but I was able to have a few contractions that were 3 minutes apart and I was able to regain some sense of composure. I also was able to let the nurse know that with Molly I went from 7 cms to 10 cms in about 45 minutes. She said well thanks for letting me know, because we could go from 5 to 10 in that time or less...I'll get things ready. The next few contractions I am fairly certain I dilated a cm with each contraction. I was in serious serious pain. I'm not going to lie. Because it was such a different experience than with Molly and I didn't know how fast things were going to happen, I started to seriously consider an epidural. I had one more and told the nurse I needed one, I couldn't do it. She was amazing and talked me through it and reminded me that just 10 minutes ago I was insistent on not getting one and told me I could have one if I wanted but we should have the doctor check me again because if I was already 8 cms chances are it would only be a few more contractions before it was time to push and she would get me through them. I said ok and no sooner did I say ok that another contraction started and I realized I needed to push...I take that back, not that I needed to but that I was pushing. She told me not to push, HA! and to wait for the doctor. During this time she was also trying to find the fetal heart rate which she couldn't find because he was in the birth canal. A few nurses came into find out if she needed pediatrics and she said no we need the doctor the baby is coming. They were able to get me to lay back and by the time I did the doctor came in the room and he didn't even need to check me because he could already see the head. John was shocked and looked and said, Jen it's there...just a couple pushes and it's all over. The next contraction came and said I needed to push again and the doctor said ok that's fine...if you need to push go right a head. He was still getting his scrubs on. With that push the head came almost all the way out. The wait time between that push and the next seemed forever because I felt the burn, but finally it came (I'm sure it wasn't more than a minute) and the head came right out. It was funny because DH said it's out, and I said oh I know...the pain was gone....with the next contraction I pushed just barely to get the shoulders and the rest of the body out. John Jospeh III “Jack” was born at 8:07 pm. So it was 23 minutes from water breaking to birth. Who would have thought 23 minutes would take this long :).

Happy Due Date to me!

Yay!!!...I mean...oh yeah, it's my due date. Didn't think I would still be here with no baby on my due date, that's for sure. But here we are! Nothing too exciting going on so far today. Just hanging out watching it snow. Kind of bummed there is all this snow, I've heard reports of great clearance sales going on at Babies R Us but there is no way we are heading out today. Oh well.

So to update from the other night. At about 5 am I still having spotting/bleeding which I figured was from my exam but since it was red I got nervous. Called L&D and they said yeah, from the exam but if it got really heavy to get concerned. It didn't...so everything was ok there. Got back to sleep around 5:30 and slept until 8ish. Molly came home from Grammy's house around 10 and then my mom and Michael showed up shortly after so I could go to my doctor appointment. The doctor couldn't believe I was there...she seriously thought I would have delivered. Guess this little guy fooled everyone. We did another non stress, baby is still moving around fine. She told me she didn't think I needed to do another round of the cervidil, great news. I asked how long I needed to be on pitocin with no progress before we talked about a c-section. She said I had to give it at least 12 hours. Ugh. So I asked about delaying it and I'm so happy she agreed. While it would be nice to have the baby by now, after the failed induction Monday/Tuedsay and false labor Thursday I just needed a break. If I went/go into labor naturally that's one thing, but I just didn't have it in me to go into the pitocin Saturday morning.

So I'm just hanging out, bouncing on the yoga ball, trying to walk around as much as possible in hopes that I am a little more dilated or he is low enough to break the water when we get in on Tuesday. Or of course that I go into labor on my own. But so far that hasn't happened. I'm having contractions on occasion, but nothing major.

Hopefully my next post will be welcoming the little guy home....I think we've all had enough of these updates!

Wide Awake...

Yes, I should be sleeping. But I'm not. My head is spinning. Yesterday was yet another draining and emotional day.

I woke up to a pretty low glucose number, and felt a little off. Shortly after I had a pretty decent contraction and then, a few more. I started timing them and asked John to wait a while before going to work to see if they kept up. They did....even after a shower! Woohoo! After 2 hours I was having them ever 3-5 minutes, which is the most consistent they have ever been other than when I was on pitocin the other day. Great sign! I called the doctor, she had me come in for a check and I was 2 cms...even better! She said all signs indicated that I was on my way, I was contracting, cervix looked good......

We headed over to Mary's house so that if things progressed Molly would be there. I continued having contractions throughout the afternoon, all between 2-6 minutes apart. If I sat for a while they would slow down but walking got them going right up again so I tried walking as much as I could. After another 6 hrs of contracting, I called the doc again and they had me come down to Yale. Yale??? But we got to St. Ray's.....they were inducing a patient there and had no patients at St. Ray's..ok fine. So we go down there...still only 2 cms and baby is still too high to consider breaking my water to get things moving. Are you serious???? She told me I could walk around for a bit to see if I progressed but I said no, I'll just go home...again...

So off we went, stopped for some Mexican food. The nurse suggested a glass of wine to relax, which I poured the minute I got home. Watched Grey's and Private Practice, which made me start crying when the guy chose his daughter over the son...ugh heartbreaking...still getting teary thinking about it. Finally fell asleep. Been up a few times to pee and now can't fall back to sleep at all.

My head is just spinning. Between, what was that feeling? Did it break...nope. Is this spotting/bleeding normal? I'm sure it's just from the multiple exams over the past few days. What happens tomorrow? Do I really want to go in for another night of cervidil? How long do I have to be on the pitocin before they offer the c-section? Will she let me have a couple more days to see if the little guy comes on his own? He appears to be doing so well in there, and I've had more than enough non stress tests to show it. Maybe we can hold off on inducing until Sunday or Monday....and then what happens? What if I'm still only 2 cms on Monday? Can I just opt for a c/s on Tuesday? How many days of contracting naturally vs. pitocin do I have to go through if the baby just isn't going to move down?

Aren't we supposed to actually have a newborn before we have sleepless nights?

Trying to have a baby....Part I

Long day....but I am feeling good about my decision to come home.

Long and short...I was in the hospital by about 8 pm last night, finally started the cervidil by 9:30 pm. They ended up having to test my glucose every hour because the bagel I had for dinner wasn't a very good choice and my numbers were running high. The doctor was actually going to start an IV insulin drip but thankfully the pharmacy wouldn't send it up for some reason so they gave me a shot with only 2 units and that brought it down and I was fine...but it still involved them waking me every hour to test. I also had a killer headache from about midnight on, finally asked for tylenol around 5 am and that helped.

Cervidil came out at 8:30 am, Pitocin started around 10:30 am. They didn't actually check my status before starting the pitocin, which I was shocked. They said usually that is standard, they just expect that it has prepped the cervix for dilation so they start up the Pitocin and then check 2 hours later. So at 12:30 doc came and and I had no dilated AT ALL. She said he had moved down, so that is good....but no dilation. I got really down about it, since I was having pretty painful contractions on the pit and really thought things would have progressed.

After she checked me she also had me lay down for a bit since the baby's heart rate was a little high and had them give me some fluids to make sure I was getting dehydrated. After 30 minutes on my side the contractions pretty much came to a halt. I actually thought they had stopped the pit to give me a break while they stablized the heart rate, but when the nurse came into ask if I was feeling them and I said no, I realized that they had just stopped. It was then that I knew it was going to happen today. The nurse had me sit back up and she upped and the contrax started again but no where near the intensity that they had. I kept looking at the clock just waiting for when the doctor would come back in, she said she would be back to check me between 3 and 4 pm. I had already made the decision that if there wasn't significant progress I was done and wanted to go home.

Fortunately she popped her head in at 2:30 and I told her I was done and that I could have contrax that do nothing at home. She laughed (in a good way) and told me I was right and said to give her 15 minutes so she could get the paper work done and she would check me one more time, just in case. As I expected, no more dilation but he had moved down even more. So she told me I could go home for a while and come back tonight for more cervidil and pit again tomorrow. I said no thanks, I'll go home.

Sooo........where are we now? If you've made it this far :). I am having a lot of mucous right now, some which is brown, some is turning more of a raspberry color so I'm going to keep an eye on it because it might actually be new blood mixing in which is a good sign. I was having some serious contrax even upon arriving home but after taking a nap they have slowed and I plan to head to bed soon just in case but DH and I are also pretty exhausted.

If I don't go into labor on my own before Friday I have an appointment at 10:45 to check my cervix to see if I have dilated more. If I haven't , I go back Friday night more another round of cervidil and one way or the other the kid will be born on Saturday since with GD they really want you delivered by your due date.

I'm happy to be home. I knew the pit wasn't working, and I really didn't see the need to be taking these meds that were doing nothing. After an unmedicated birth with Molly, this was not what I wanted at all. If I have to do it again on Friday/Saturday I will, but we will cross that bridge when we get to it.

Thanks for reading all of this if you got this far....it feels good just to type it all out.

Retail Therapy

I highly recommend it. So often I go to the store and all I buy are groceries, supplies, diapers, clothes for Molly or the new baby....maybe something for myself but nothing really nice.

Slept fairly decent last night, woke up a bunch to use the bathroom but wasn't in a ton of pain and fell back to sleep easily. Overall a good night. So I woke up this morning feeling really good. John and I had talked about going to the outlets over the weekend, but I was not up for it at all. Saturday I was having a ton of contractions, to the point that I actually thought something was getting started. A nice warm shower put an end to that, but it left me sleepy and exhausted. Contractions continued through the night, but still at no regular intervals. I have a classic case of "false labor" although I liked the website I found that said they didn't like that term and considered the entire last month "pre labor" since everything that is happening is prepping the body for the real thing, and if you have enough of these stupid fake contractions it can actually make real labor easier. Keeping fingers crossed.

Anyway, back to shopping. So I woke up this morning, texted Lisa to see if she was still interested in heading out to Clinton and was off. I heard a rumor that Kate Spade was having a 50% off the sale price special, and suddenly I needed a new diaper bag. I was just going to use the one I had last time, but after using it for a year with Molly it is pretty grungy. I just needed a good excuse to get a new one...50% off is as good of an excuse as any in my book. So here it is....Lisa says it's trendy.



There were so many to choose from. I really liked the New York Striped bag, but it had no zipper and I just need a zipper. So I'm excited about my new bag and overall it was a nice little trip. Got to see Lisa and Keller, which is always fun. On the way home Molly and I stopped at "Donald's House" for some nuggets, french fries and a juicy box. Molly was extremely well behaved, ate all 4 of her nuggets and was the most pleasant she has been in days. I think she was just so happy to be out of the house. And it was nice to spend some 1 on 1 time with her before the little guy arrives. I was also able to keep her awake for the 20 minute ride home, we stopped half way between home and the outlets, which means I get a full naptime at home. Yeah. I should be resting myself, but like I said, feeling good.

So that's it from here....

I believe

that Contractionmaster.com is BAD LUCK!!!!!

I am convinced. Every time these BH's start to get more frequent and more painful I say, hmm...ok maybe they are real this time. Let's fire up contractionmaster....and then I don't get another one for 15-20 minutes. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.

Definitely been feeling crampy and having more contractions down low today though, so hopefully moving in the right direction.

That's it from here. Although if I were this little guy I'd stay inside too with all the commotion going on in this house. We have marching band try outs going on, hide and seek, hop scotch, you name it.

Here is a video of Molly playing her bugle.

10 Days to a Better Body

As we walked in to Walmart this afternoon we went by the DVD selection of all the exercise videos they have out for people on the "It's New Year's and I have to exercise now" kick, I saw the video "10 Days to a Better Body" and thought wow, wouldn't that be nice. And then suddenly realized that in reality, in 10 days I would have a better body since one way or the other this baby should be here. The doc said if I haven't delivered by next Friday (38w5d) they will talk about inducing...so IF it hasn't happened naturally within 10 days I will probably be heading to the hospital anyway.

10 days seems like a really short amount of time. In an almost scary, so not ready type of way, even though I am so ready to have the baby.

My sister says she doesn't think the video works that way exactly...hey I'll be losing about 15 lbs in less than a week. Sounds pretty successful to me :).

Christmas in between doctor appointments

This past week was a pretty crazy one! I updated about my doctor appointment on the 23rd, which was eventful but we also had a sick Molly at home. She woke up at 3 am that day with her first stomach bug. Poor little thing was puking . I felt so bad for her. She was pretty miserable. I did take her to the doctor to make sure she had no infection, which she didn't. Fortunately she was feeling better by evening and woke up being her normal crazy, 2 year old self. So we were able to celebrate most of our holiday festivities. We missed dinner with John's side on the 23rd, but saw his mom and uncles at breakfast Christmas morning.

Molly was so excited that Ho Ho came. Her little mouth just dropped when she came to the living room and saw the toys and presents. It was pretty cute. I'll have to try to upload some of the video. After going through presents from Santa and exchanging gifts with John we got dressed and headed over to his mom's, and then down to my mom's for dinner. We had a good time at my mom's. My cousin and his wife and kids were there as well, which was fun. Molly had some playmates, which was nice. She even got to take a bath with one of them! Then we came home and back to the doctor I went on Friday.

The doctor said the baby is moving around fine and everything looks good, but the glucose numbers going down and not needing much insulin is still a concern. I was still contracting everyone 5 minutes or so, but these could continue for a while without actually go into labor. She said at some point they may just decide to induce me since I am 37 weeks today but hopefully will just go into labor on my own soon. I am supposed to continue doing my movement counts and if those go down or aren't as much I need to call. She also said if I end up to the point of needing no insulin at all I need to call because that seems to be when she will make the decision to induce. I told her I was hoping not to induce since I am hoping to not have an epidural. I'm not excited about getting induced, but we'll see what happens. Of course if the doctor is telling me that the baby needs to come out, I will do whatever is necessary..but I wanted her to know what I was at least hoping for. Maybe just stripping the membranes or just a touch of pitocin will get these contractions to become regular. My mom said that's what happened to her. Of course I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that my water breaks and I know it's time.

The contractions are starting to get slightly more uncomfortable, particularly when I am walking around. We went to the mall yesterday and that was fun...I had to stop a few times to breathe through them. They are only that intense every so often when I'm sitting. My hope right now is that these contractions are dilating me, but I hope that they aren't doing so much that I'll eventually have one big contraction that pushes me over the edge and I'm ready to deliver without even realizing it. Oh, and as far as my glucose numbers go I took a tiny bit of insulin today just to keep my numbers in check since we went to a party. I can say that I would have had to take 3 to 4 times as much insulin a few weeks ago to have the same numbers. I'm debating whether or not to take insulin tonight and see what happens.

I have another appointment on Tuesday, and then another on Friday. Tuesday's appointment is with another doctor in the practice, so it should be interesting to see his take on things. I see the doctor from last week again on Friday, if I make it that far. I'll be going crazy if I'm still having contractions this frequently a week from now. Ugh.

36 week update

I had my weekly nst this afternoon. Baby is doing fine, moving aroound like crazy! I was having pretty big contractions, about every 5-8 minutes....not all that painful, just tightening. The doctor asked if that was more than normal, but its hard to say since they don't hurt alot so I don't always notice them. But I wasn't in a ton of pain during labor until I got to about 7 cms.

The bigger concern is that my glucose numbers have been lower and I don't seem to need insulin for meals if I eat low carb. Before I needed insulin even when I was eating low carb. So the concern is that something is going on with the placenta, and/or getting ready to deliver. Since I am already 36 weeks it seems that it is ok if I go into labor, but she said it is too early to induce unless the baby seems stressed. She ended up doing an internal since I'm contracting and I am about 1 cm and she could feel the babies head. He wiggled when she did, which she said was good.

I have to do formal movement checks, 10 an hour 3x a day. And I go for another NST on Friday, then another on Tuesday.

So we'll see what happens! Still having contractions, I feel the tightening but pretty much the same. I'll let you know if anything changes!

35 week ultrasound

I had a growth check again today, yay!!! So much more exciting than the nsts. At least I get to see the little guy. And I got a 3D photo! Even more exciting. So tell me what you think?

I also had a chance to upload photos from the weekend. We visited with Santa at John's office. Molly was a little shy at first, but after a donut and realizing Santa would give her another toy if she went up to see him, she walked right up. No sitting on his lap, but she chatted with him for a few minutes. Definitely making progress! She is getting exciting for Christmas. Every day we move the Snowflake in our calendar to count down the days, and she knows in 9 days Ho HO comes! Yay!!!! She told me yesterday she wanted something pink....I think we've got that covered..I hope.

Only 5 more weeks!

Yay!!! Coming into the final stretch and getting excited. It is nice to have Christmas and the baby to look forward to. Just about ready for Christmas, I'd say I'm about 90% done with my shopping. Need to pick up a few more odds and ends, but overall doing great. Amazon.com has been my best friend this year.

Other exciting news is that Candace had her baby yesterday! A little boy, Dominic Patrick. So exciting :). So many babies this fall and winter. I can't believe I am next!

Not a whole lot to say here, just wanted to do a quick update. Overall I'm feeling good. My hips are starting to hurt quite a bit at night when I sleep. I remember them being like this last time, doesn't really make me look forward to sleeping. Amy has assured me that the aches and pains go away relatively quickly though, which will be nice. I seemed to remember feeling better shortly after having Molly, but it's so hard to remember. Trying not to get nervous on what this baby is going to do in the sleeping and eating categories, just going to go with the flow and hope for the best.

So that's it from here....and a few photos of our very much a 2 year old.

Getting ready for Turkey Day

Things are coming together here for Turkey Day. We have a crowd of 23 coming, at least that's how many I think are coming. Hopefully I didn't count wrong. Finally took the china out of the boxes after 3+ years...not enough for 23 but I don't think we'll ever have 23 place settings so we'll go with what we have. Not bothering to clean the living room until Thursday morning since I have a 2 year old here and cleaning 2 days ahead might as well be like cleaning last year for this year's holiday.

I decided to bake a couple pies tonight. Apple and Pecan. I'm not making my own crust. I've never tried it, and I just don't feel up to it this year. Maybe another time. But at least they will look homemade. I guess they still are, to a certain extent. But it's like brownies out of a box vs. homemade brownies. Better than store bought, right?

I have my first non-stress test today with the OB. I go weekly from here on out. Fun fun. While I'm not excited about going weekly, it will be a nice break from chasing Molly. Even if it isn't for my own enjoyment. I might still be able to get some reading in. And then maybe some errands afterward depending on what's going on.

Ok, well I think I'm going to load the dishwasher with the china while the Molly Monster is sleeping. She tried to run off with a bread plate this morning.

Poll Added: When will Baby Boy Arrive???

Any guesses?

A quick blog before trying to catch a nap

Hello out there...hope you all are doing well in blog land. Things are going well here. Counting down the weeks...not quite days yet...although we are almost under 60 days? Is that possible?

Where were we when we last spoke. I believe I was discussing getting new appliances. Stove is here!!! And it's beautiful. I feel like such a big kid with a big kid stove. Molly is so cute, she says, "Mommy's stove. Hot." Guess you can tell who does most of the cooking in our house. Everything lately is defined by whose it is. Mommy's couch, Daddy's chair. Daddy's bed...what?? Fortunately I'm still allowed in it, but only on Mommy's side.

Dishwasher should be arriving tomorrow. Yay. Hmm...let's discuss more about this Customer Service issue. A friend of mine recently posted on another blog about her frustration in the lack of Customer Service. Add Sears to that list of places I am frustrated with. We planned to order the dishwasher and stove from them since we had heard good things about the Kenmore Dishwashers, as well as the ranges. Figured we would also take advantage of the discount when using the Sears credit card....So John and I went to Sears, picked out what we wanted but decided to wait until the weekend when there would be an additional discount. Salesperson told us, that's fine, just call and we'll take care of it! After being on the phone with them for 30 minutes to try to get a phone credit authorization I told them forget it and I would order it online. Felt bad for the sales lady not getting her commission, but I just didn't have the time. So in about 3 minutes I ordered online. Website said next available delivery for the stove would be in 2 days. Woohoo...start tearing out that stove top and call the electrician! So we did. Only to find out that the "website isn't always updated" and it's up to "delivery when they deliver." Um....what's the point of saying, next available delivery if that isn't really the day you can deliver to me? They scheduled delivery for both the stove and the washer for Nov. 21st, leaving me without a stove top or oven for over 10 days! I wasn't happy.

Fortunately, I did what I should have done to begin with. I called Marie at Gallo's Appliances in New Haven. LOVE HER!!!!! I tell her the situation, she says, "give me the product number for the Kenmore range and I will call back with a similar GE." 10 minutes later, she called. Placed the order. Had stove in LESS than 24 hours. Yay. Dishwasher wasn't in her inventory so she had to order it from the warehouse, so that will come tomorrow. Which is fine, I've lived without a decent dishwasher for a long time...I'm used to it. But I can't not cook for 10 days. That just doesn't work.

So the point? Go Local. Support your local businesses.

What else? Oh yeah, I had an ultrasound yesterday :). Everything looks good. Baby boy is growing, even if I'm not. The Endocrinologist actually seemed a little concern about my lack of weight gain (I actually lost 2 lbs last week.) But Baby Boy is 4 lbs 3 oz and is 66 percentile. I tried to tell her the baby was fine and I'm just losing it in my butt from chasing around a crazy child, but she seemed concerned.




Here are a couple other photos taken recently. John and Molly watching the fire on a chilly Sunday afternoon.

Molly's 2nd Birthday

Molly turned 2 on Halloween. She was so excited. We have been talking about it for so long and when she woke up in the morning and we told her that finally it was her birthday she said, Woohoo!!! And we sang to her and she was thrilled. We gave her two presents that morning, a Dora Sticker book and a Rocket from Little Einstein. Big hit. Good job Daddy :).

We had two costume parties with playgroups, one Thursday afternoon and another Friday morning at Chuck E Cheese. She refused to wear her costume and only wanted to wear her Halloween dress.




I didn't want to fight with her about it since wearing the costume for trick or treating was much more important. I was able to convince her that neighbors would be giving her treats and snacks, so there was very little fighting to get the bunny costume on. She had a blast, her and John made it all the way around the block. He had to carry her a little bit. We are definitely looking at getting a wagon for Christmas. With two kids it will definitely be necessary.




Saturday we had her party and she was beyond excited. She only napped for 45 minutes and when she woke up she said, "Party?" No not yet. When all of her favorite people started showing up she was very excited. The next day we asked her if she had fun at her party and she said, "Friends, jumping and running in circles!" Doesn't get much better than that.

So what else? Wow, Amy is 38 weeks. Yay!!! Any day now...and I am 29 weeks. Even more of a wow. I don't know where they went, and I don't know how I only have 11 (or less!) weeks left. So much to do and so little time. Good news is that John is starting to realize how close it really is. Hopefully we have the rooms set up with the big girl bed in Molly's room, crib moved to baby's room, Molly's new dresser purchased. Oh, and I think it looks like we are seriously going to remove the old stove top and put in a new one sooner rather than later. Going to Sears today to pick one out. Yay!!! So excited about having a new stove for Thanksgiving.

That's it from here....Happy November!

28 weeks

Welcome to the 3rd trimester! Things are going so fast. I can hardly believe I only have 12 weeks left...possibly less. And while it seems like it is going fast, my body is telling me to slow down and that this is going to be a long few weeks. I am in a lot of discomfort today, not sure why. I'm just sore, my belly hurts and so does my back. I feel like I grew three sizes overnight. I don't really think I'm having BH contractions...maybe a few here and there. The pain just is there all the time. I looked back on my blog to see how I felt at this point last time around and in one post I mentioned soreness late in the day...but nothing to complain about a lot I guess. So who knows.

Maybe I just need a good sleep tonight...I think I will head there soon. Looks like this will be a short post, but wanted to at least check in.

Ok fine. I'll update my blog!

But you know, just because you've asked me to do this...Molly will wake up from her nap any moment now :).

So where are we. 24+ weeks. Less than 16 left...yeah! That's the one good thing about gestational diabetes, I know I can't go late. But Molly was a week early, so let's hope this little guy follows suit. I actually had a dream he came before Christmas. Hmmmm. Of course it was more that I was freaked out that I had no Christmas outfit for him. Which is obviously the most important issue. I will actually be 36 weeks on December 21st, so it's not completely out of the possibility...and John would be happy about another tax deduction :).

No disclaimer needed anymore, I let it slip to Mary that a boy is on the way. Didn't take very long, and I did warn her that she would likely find out. But it happened when I was going for my Level II ultrasound and I told her that the doctor said he...I mean...forget it...he seemed to be on target for everything so we hopefully don't have anything to worry about. So she knows. Add another grandson to the list!

And guess who I hear now?

What else is going on....very very busy with the wine business. People just love to have wine tastings! I am excited about it. My goal was to have 14 between Sept. 20th and Thanksgiving, and I think I have 15 scheduled now...I'll be taking most of December and January off though. And then hopefully by the end of February I can get started again. I also had two people join my team in September so I became Senior Consultant...very excited about that. My next goal is team leader, 5 more recruits. Wish me luck! If you know of any wine lovers looking for an extra job, let me know!

Ok, let's upload a few pics and then I have to get the little girl...even though she won't let me get her out of bed right away.

DISCLAIMER

Pictures are from a recent trip to Lenny & Joe's. Molly is a big fan of Joe, and the frog.

Note: Please be aware that posts may include information regarding the gender of the baby. If you don't want to know, you may wish to stop reading now!!!

Just thought I would throw that out there :) since there are a few people who say they don't want to know. I would have a ticker up but can't figure out how to add one with this new template. Hopefully Amy can help me. I'm sure it's too easy, which is why I'm missing it.

So yes, we had our ultrasound on Tuesday and everything went well. We found out the gender and we are excited to have a little boy on the way! It was pretty easy to figure out. No hiding anything for our little guy. Yeah! I've started looking at some blue things, and have determined there are some pretty cute clothes for the boys. Just have to shop a little bit harder. Which isn't an easy task with the Mollster. She actually made herself puke today in Babies R Us because she didn't want to sit in the carriage. Oh well. We made it through.

It did however, make the task of taking away the pacifier a little bit tougher. After she puked, I gave in and gave it to her. I also gave it to her in the car and she was asleep in minutes. Yesterday we made it all day with no pacifier other than naps and bedtime. Little steps in the right direction.

What else is going on? I had my regular OB appointment today. That was good. Gained 6 pounds though, yikes. Only 9 total for the pregnancy though, so that's not so bad. Good news is that I don't have to take the 1 or 3 hour glucose test this time around!!! Yay!!! Bad news...I know I have GD already so the doctor says what's the point? I know in an earlier post I mentioned that I thought it was on its way back and it reared its ugly head over the weekend following an incident with a Ring Ding. I fessed up to the doctor, but still, no one should have blood sugar levels that high. I'm scheduled to see a different endocrinolgoist than last time since they couldn't fit me in until October. It's so ridiculous. People only have GD for a limited amount of time, you would think they would fit that into their schedule. Like pedicatricians leave a certain number of appointments available for newborns, because you don't really know when they are going to be born. But no...sure I'm early on in my pregnancy so wouldn't be such a big deal if I didn't see her for another 4 weeks but the same thing happend during my last pregnancy. If I remember correctly, they initially scheduled my first appointment for AFTER my due date. Thank goodness I have proactive doctors. I have an appointment on Wednesday, and possibly Thursday as well to see the diabetes specialist.

Alrighty then...I can't believe it is Friday already. I don't think we have plans. Just taking it easy. I think I might watch the weather to see what the deal is with this hurricane thing heading our way. I am working at a booth at the CT Women's Expo tomorrow for The Traveling Vineyard. Hopefully I get some good leads! Wish me luck!

Who loves Molly?

Molly is starting to get the idea of saying I love you, and also knowing who loves her. It's pretty cute. A few weeks ago when I would ask, does Mommy love you? I got the typical "no" but in a cute voice as if she knew the answer was really yes but an almost two year old is prohibited from using the Y word in the vocabulary.

Today I asked who loved Molly, and she said, "Mommy, Daddy, Michael, Thomas, Gramma, Papa, Grammy and Sissa (aunt Melissa.)"

When I asked who does Molly love, she said, "Mommy, Daddy, Daddy's Car and Di Di (her pacifier.)"