Friday, March 18, 2011

6 weeks to go...

34 weeks
I can't believe that yesterday I hit the 34 week mark! That means that in less than two months, I'll have two baby boys to keep me busy. April seems so far away. At the same time, it's probably because I'm in denial about March being halfway over. Even though it's so close, it still seems so far away. I feel like I still have all the time in the world to "get ready." I don't really have a ton to do. The extra diapers have been washed and are ready to go (to be added to the rest of the stash once labor starts so Noah has plenty while we are away and the in-laws don't have to worry about laundering them). Other than that, we still need to retrieve the infant clothes and infant car seat from the attic, set up the co-sleeper, and pack the hospital bag (Taran and I will share a bag). For some reason though, I'm not really in a rush to get any of that done.

Most of the time, I'm more focused on Noah and making sure I'm feeling as best as possible at any given moment. As time goes on, I've been experiencing some varying levels of back pain (probably because Noah weighs 31 lbs now) as well as increasing amounts of indigestion and heartburn. As a result, I tend to focus on what I can do, what has to be done, and what can be put off until another time. I'm trying to stay active but not over do it. Fortunately, my friend Laura and I have gotten the opportunity to be cliché stroller moms at the mall several times over the past few weeks which gets us out of our houses, gives us some exercise (though I'll admit, mall walking isn't very vigorous), and allows our kiddos to get some activity in the kids' play area at the mall.

We've had a pretty good low stress week this week, so that's been nice. Well, aside from our very unlucky St. Patrick's Day - things just seemed to keep going wrong yesterday! I just hope the weekend continues in the same low stress pattern as the early part of the week.

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Keeping active...

It's interesting. Most of the time I feel like life is going in slow motion. Looking back at the past week, it has been anything but that. So, in keeping with early tradition of my blog, here's an overview of my week:

32 weeks
On Monday, I had my 32 week pregnancy visit. Everything is going well. The baby's growth looks good (in fact he's a bit on the big side). My blood pressure is normal. My weight gain looks good. The baby's heart rate is also good. An added bonus, my doc palpated the baby this time and he's confident that he's head down. Let's hope he stays that way.

Tuesday I attended my regular mommy meeting. I can't say there was anything particularly memorable about it, which I guess is good. We had a new mom at the meeting, that much I remember. Otherwise, it's a bit of a blur. It's likely my fatigue and exhaustion cloud my memory.

Wednesday I went to Hobby Lobby and the mall with a friend. It was so nice to get out and socialize where my kiddo wasn't bullying everyone else smaller than him. I spent the rest of my gift card for maternity clothes since I'm running out of time where such a gift card is even useful. I picked up some cute tees to add to my very boring wardrobe of t-shirts and jeans. Our two little munchkins played around at the kid section in the mall and they were so tuckered out that they both fell asleep in their strollers before we even left. I can't really complain about that.

Thursday the same friend and I met up at Target and picked up a few things we both needed. We then headed to a nearby playground and let the kiddos have fun sliding and running around. Ok, well, my kid ran around. Had anyone else been around they would have gotten a good laugh out of a very pregnant mama chasing a 19 mo old. My back was really bugging me and it wasn't easy. We eventually left the playground with the kiddos wearing out and ready for naps. I chilled at my friend's house for a bit to recover and get some Tylenol before going home. Thursday evening Taran returned from his two weeks in PA on a rig. It's so nice to have him home. It makes the house seem much less empty.

Friday was primarily a relaxing day. I did get some grocery shopping done which was nice. I was able to take advantage of some great sales. I ran out of steam after one store though and didn't get all my shopping done. I may just skip the other store this week.

Super yummy!
Today, we went to the home of one of Taran's co-workers for a crawfish boil. It was my first one to ever attend and the same goes for Noah as well. It was nice to be able to relax a bit. Noah had fun playing on the trampoline and with the two boys of the co-worker. He also really enjoyed the crawfish which couldn't have made me happier. He kept asking for more and more and I couldn't peel them fast enough for him! I love that my munchkin is so willing to try new foods!

Soft soled shoes for Noah
I did have a project that I worked on starting on Wednesday. At Hobby Lobby I picked up some materials and supplies to make some soft soled shoes for Noah. At 19 mo, his feet are too big to fit into most of the commercial brands of soft soled shoes and I can't afford to pay for most of them anyway. It's really important to me to help ensure proper foot development so I really wanted to keep him in this style of shoe. My sister-in-law found a shoe pattern for me that was for 0-6 mo. I did a bit of measuring and managed to enlarge the pattern to an appropriate size. I first made a practice pair of shoes with some scrap fabric (that project I worked on about a week ago). The practice shoes fit great so I felt confident in making the real deal with a leather sole so Noah could wear them outside. So over the past couple of days that's what I was working on in my "spare time" (does that actually exist for me?). The real test came today when we went to the crawfish boil. The shoes are great, but I need to tighten the elastic a bit more since they slipped off of Noah's heal a couple of times. Otherwise, they stood up great and I'm encouraged for the next size up. I may have to narrow the pattern a bit since it's really wide at the top.

Aside from that, life is pretty normal. Ok, well, maybe not. Noah has been really volatile the past couple of weeks because of teething. One of his 2-year-old molars has shown it's ugly face and I'm sure the others are close behind. The poor kiddo has been clingy and wanting to be held all the time (not and easy task for preggo mama over here). He also seems to get easily irritated or frustrated. Add to that the fact that he's not sleeping well and you have just a bad equation. Needless to say, I also haven't gotten much sleep lately either. I'm almost getting used to the constant tired feeling as sad as it is. My only hope is that the teeth come in before the new baby arrives and we can get Noah back to his regular routine. You know, just in time before it's disrupted by another munchkin!