Month 5

Okay so I have officially passed the halfway point (yay!). I am 22.5 weeks and have gained 12 pounds. With this pregnancy I am on a mission to not gain 70 pounds like I did with the last one. So far, so good. I work full time in the ER, run around after a 2 year old on my days off, and power walk whenever I can squeeze it in! I also am not participating in my delicious Ben & Jerry's taste-testing marathon like I did last time (as tempting as that sounds). Ed is on a super diet kick trying to train for fire school so for the most part we eat healthy around here.

Nausea is gone. My energy is actually through the roof. I seem to be able to more than keep up with my normal pace. I pretty much am gaining weight in my belly so I have a little basketball looking thing there. You're thinking..."great, what do you have to complain about now?"

Well...I kind of forgot about this part of pregnancy. I hate it.

HORMONES!

For those of you who know me well, know that I am not an overly emotional/dramatic kind of person. Don't get me wrong, I cry when something is sad, I feel empathy for people, etc. I'm just not used to feeling overcome with emotion. It's really hard to explain, maybe some of my preggo moms can chime in if you get what I am saying. It's like you do/think/say things and there's this teeny voice of reason way in the back of your head going, "No!! Don't do it!!!" but you can't control yourself.

You know that movie Knocked Up with Katherine Heigl? There is the part where they get into a huge fight at the doctors office and the guy is screaming at her, and I quote...

"I know this isn't you talking, it's your hormones, but I would just like to say...F*** YOU HORMONES, YOU ARE A CRAZY B****, HORMONES, not Allison, HORMONES, F*** 'em!!!!"

That in a nutshell is how I feel. I feel like I am on the verge of psychosis. I get so moody and irritable for NO REASON. My husband should seriously win an award for putting up with me. So in this next phase of pregnancy I actually feel good physically. Energy, not sick, etc. Emotionally....a whole different story. Why is there always some bullshit side effect of being pregnant? Isn't it enough that you have to lug around extra weight, and walk with a basketball in your shirt all day? Seriously.

In other news here are some more updated ultrasound photos for everyones enjoyment pleasure. Of course we still do not know what the baby is going to be. Jack says "Baby Girl" 100% of the time when we ask him. It's hilarious. I'm going to be surprised if it's a girl because everyone else in the world seems to think it is another boy. He points to my belly and says, "that's mine baby!" He's already taken ownership of his little brother/sister. Cute! We do have a boy name and a girl name all figured out...but we are keeping that a secret like we did last time too. Sorry people. :)

So one other topic I wanted to discuss. It seems like everyone who is pregnant with their second kid has this huge fear that they won't have enough love for both kids...or that the first kid will feel completely neglected and/or replaced. I don't have that fear. Is it normal to not have that fear? I just feel like if you grow your family you grow your love...therefore with the addition of a new baby there is the addition of EVEN MORE love to go around. I don't know, maybe that is stupid but that's how I feel.

I truly think that Jack will be an awesome great big brother. He is just old enough now that he does things on his own. He LOVES to go to school and play with other kids. I think that he will appreciate the new baby, but still feel loved by us. I hope that is the case at least. Hopefully we can start potty training sometime soon. It would be AWESOME to only have 1 kid in diapers at a time!!!!

That's all I have for now. :) Will post more later! PS-these pictures are from about a month ago so the baby is now much bigger. According to my little week-by-week book the baby should now weigh about a pound. So I guess technically that means I have only gained 11 pounds? Is that how that works? Haha! :)

Month 3

Okay so newsflash...I don't know what I was thinking when I felt the need to update this blog every week. I already have a blog that I update every week and it is much more interesting. BUT I don't want to not do anything so I have decided to update this blog every month. 10 posts instead of 40. Sounds so much nicer...doesn't it? Lets face it, I have a 2 year old, we have 2 jobs, school, firefighting, a dog, a household to run, etc. I don't have time to update 2 blogs every single week. I will rename my last 2 posts.

So here is your update at the moment. I had my first doctors appointment today...yay! We were really excited to finally see this little peanut. I don't know about other people, but to me it doesn't seem real until I see it. I need a visualization. Earlier today Ed was like, "are you excited about the doctor today?" I was like, "no, I'm scared, what if I'm not really pregnant," he was like "umm...yeah right do you think you have just had a stomach virus for the past month or so???" I know it's not logical...it's just me. So we saw it. It's real! Based on the calculations I gave them I am 10 weeks and 3 days. They still wanted to do the ultrasound "official" measurement and guess what it said? 10 weeks and 3 days! Haha! :) I know what I'm doing.

The doctor was really nice. He seemed really cool and laid back. :) Funny story. We were waiting in the waiting room...I filled out all my papers and we were still waiting. Jack was with us so of course he was getting impatient. It is my fault because I scheduled a late afternoon appointment. It's the only way to pretty much guarantee that Ed can come with me. I definitely don't want to take Jack alone. So anyways. We waited, waited. I had to pee so bad because I drank a jug of water on the way in anticipation of having to provide a urine specimen. I ran up to the desk and whispered..."do you guys need me to pee for you today?" The lady said, "yes come on back and go while you are waiting." So I go to open the door from the waiting room to the back part of the office where the exam rooms are...Ed looked over and was like, "where are you going?" I kind of whispered (because there were quite a few people in the waiting room..."I have to pee." Ed, "what??" Me (whispering a little louder), "I have to pee." Ed, "WHAT???" Me (screaming to prove a point), "I HAVE TO PEEEEE!!! GEEEZ!!!!"

Everyone in the waiting room started cracking up. His hearing is definitely not what it used to be. I'm glad everyone got a good laugh at my expense. Hilarious! Oh well, what can you do?

The nausea and vomiting is still plaguing me...but less and less. It always comes at random times. Tonight I puked up my whole dinner. The other day I enjoyed a fantastic run (even kept up with Ed) and felt awesome. You never really can tell. 29 weeks 4 days left of torture. :) Yes I am counting down.

Month 2

So this week has been terrible. Filled with CONSTANT nausea and then occasional puking. Lovely. On top of all that I have been so tired that I feel like I could sleep and sleep and sleep all day long. All of those people who love being pregnant must experience a whole different thing than I do because this pretty much sucks. I feel so bad because it is such an effort to play with Jack when I want to just lie around on the couch.

So that pretty much sums up my week. Hopefully the vomiting/puking will subside soon. On a funny note I had a dream that we went to our ultrasound and I saw three heartbeats. I say on a funny note because that will never happen. I told Ed about it and he laughed. Now I joke around and ask him if he's ready for the triplets. He was like, "If we have triplets we're getting a show...and it's going to be called 'What Jon & Kate Should Have Done'" Hahaha. Hilarious.

I have my first doctors appointment on February 24th. Woohoo! :)

Month 1

Ask and you shall receive...

So I have decided to make an effort to resurrect my pregnancy blog now that I am pregnant again. I just want to warn everyone that this time around I have decided to be a little more candid about my experiences. I think I will make it a forum for other moms to join in. If you have something to say...by all means please comment!!! I welcome your thoughts and opinions!

Those of you who just "love being pregnant" and think it is the greatest thing ever...you might get a little annoyed by my blog.

I personally do not enjoy being pregnant.

GASP!

Yeah, I said it. I hate sharing my body with what is basically a parasite. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE being a mom. I love the whole idea of having lots of kids but if I could do it without the whole concept of 40 weeks of prison I would probably have 10 kids. Okay, so not 10 but you get my drift.

Okay another thing to clarify. It is definitely exciting to think that you are growing a baby in your body. Yes, very cool. As far as gaining weight, stretching out, feeling nauseous, gassy, and blah...it's not very fun for me.

So far in my early weeks of pregnancy I have been SLEEEEEPY. I could probably sleep for 10+ hours a night and then take a 3+ hour nap during the day. Seriously. This is what I did when I was pregnant with Jack, especially on my days off. I would sleep and sleep and sleep. It was wonderful. All those people kept saying, "sleep now while you can." Well I heeded that advice.

Reality check: This time around I have a (almost) 2 year old to chase around. He doesn't even take a nap half the time lately. There is no sleeping in, taking naps, or resting. It's just not fair to him. Believe me, there are days I wish I could just lie on the couch with him and cuddle while watching his new favorite movie Toy Story. He would do it, too. I just have never been that kind of mom. I can't plop my kid in front of the TV and use it as a babysitter.

So for now I have been sucking it up and fighting the urge to snooze. It is even worse since Ed is gone right now for work. Yesterday Jack and I had a lovely morning at the zoo and then played at the park in the afternoon. Today we had a play date with his friend Tristan, went to the park with the twins, and then in the afternoon had another play date and did some crafts (more to come with that later) with his buddy Madelyn. After that we went to dinner and now he is asleep. I should be going to sleep but it's only 7:30 pm and I just needed a minute to vent and get my thoughts out.

So there you have it. My first post on the pregnancy blog. I am not promising to keep up with this every week...this is a trial period. For now, I am going to go enjoy a nice hot cup of my pregnancy tea and fold all the laundry. Maybe next week I will blog about the different array of teas I seem to like to drink when I am pregnant. Have a great night!

Storch Family Blog

We started a new blog...

http://storchfamily.blogspot.com/

Week 40

Well today is March 6, 2009. It just happens to be the baby's official DUE DATE and so far NOTHING. I was so excited when I woke up, because I thought maybe the baby would really come on it's actual due date. Here are some pictures we took in front of the house this morning before we left for our appointment.

We went to our doctors appointment at 8:00 this morning for a Non Stress Test and an exam. Here is the update: these past couple of weeks I have been gaining weight like crazy (total weight gain is now 53 pounds), my blood pressure was 100/60, baby's heart rate is in the 140's, my cervix is about the same as it was last week, I am not dilated at all.

The NST is basically where they hook you up to a fetal monitor for 20 minutes and see how the baby's heartrate is reacting to any contractions you are having. It also makes sure the baby is moving around like it should. I don't know how it moves at all since it is so squished in there, but somehow it manages. We passed the NST and now the plan is to wait. If nothing happens this weekend we are scheduled to go into the hospital on Tuesday night and check in. I will be induced early Wednesday morning.

So I guess we are just going to try and enjoy our weekend. Today we have a hot date to get pizza and go miniature golfing. :) We will keep you updated if anything happens! Here is one last belly shot for your viewing pleasure.

Week 39

Well we are down to the final stretch!! 7 more days and the baby is due to come out!! :) Yay! I went for my doctor's appointment yesterday (Friday) and she says that the baby's head is right there. My cervix has thinned considerably, but not all the way. I am still not dilated at all. It still could be any day now. I have my next appointment on Friday, March 6th (due date!) and if the baby has not come by then I already have an induction scheduled for early Wednesday morning. Some good news...the baby is not big, blood pressure was good, blood sugars have been good. Everything is right on track so now it's a waiting game.

Here is a 39 week picture that Ed took today. Who needs a tan? This girl!

This weekend we don't have a whole lot planned. Basically we are going to clean the house, get the guest room ready, clean out the garage, and make sure everything is washed and ready for baby. I need to pack my bags too. I have a list that I made, but I think this weekend I will go ahead and have it all ready so that when the time comes we don't have to worry about it.

Here is a picture of baby's room still in progress...

My latest addition is the book shelves on either side of the crib. I needed more space for storage and they matched perfectly. We have started a book collection for baby. We got a bunch of books that we both loved to read as kids and we both agree that it is never too early to read to a child. I can't wait! Ed already read all of the books to Hope so he could practice reading out loud (how cute!). I think this weekend I might set up the pack & play downstairs so we have somewhere for the baby to sleep close by. I don't have a monitor yet and I don't think I'll be comfortable with the baby upstairs without being able to hear it cry.

Well I guess it's just a waiting game from here on out. We will keep you posted if anything happens!! :)