Thursday, July 30, 2009

Random.... Thursday?

So usually Wednesdays are for random. And when I opened up this post to start writing, I was pretty sure it WAS Wednesday. I think that gives a good indication that I'm overdue for next week's vacation. My current life in bullet points:
  • Aaron leaves this afternoon for the weekend in CA. In normal Aaron-style, he is taking a 'vacation' to help rip apart a friends house and put in hardwood flooring.
  • He will return on Monday, and begin ripping apart our basement to make a better workshop.
  • So I've got 4 nights of single parenting... which shouldn't be a big deal. Of course, I'm actually sore this morning from a bad twist in my sleep which almost had me in tears. Damn round ligament pain. I even called my doc this morning - because it was still sore... and I'm supposed to rest it.
  • How do you 'rest' a round ligament? Especially with an almost 8 month old that needs to be picked up?
  • I called my Aunt to see if she would come over and help with bedtime. She is leaving for a weekend trip today. Sigh.
  • I'm planning on going to see my mother this weekend. I'm going to be pissed if it's annoying. I'm leaving my dogs home to try to avoid the whole 'your dog sucks' conversation.
  • Call me a wimp, but I just don't want to get into all that in a face to face discussion. At least this week I don't.
  • On Monday, Hulk will be going to daycare even though I'm not working. Am I a bad mom? I think not. I have a massage scheduled for 9 AM.
  • I may even go see a movie on Monday.
  • His surgery is on Thursday. I got the information in the mail about what he is supposed to do... no food after midnight, and only clear fluids in the morning. I hope he is in really early so I can't need to deal with Hungry Hulk - because he gets pretty mad when he is hungry.

That's all the excitement here. Looking forward to my week of no work - but will be pretty busy at home! I'm may even do some work on the nursery... if I'm able to get the wallpaper down without chemicals. We'll see.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

20 week checkup

I went to my 20 week checkup on Monday. Both babies sounded great on the doppler, my weight was up another 2 pounds... and I'm measuring 26 weeks. At least I know I don't just FEEL huge, I AM huge. We talked a little more about delivery and the probability that I'll have a c-section. He agreed if I went into labor before 38 weeks we could discuss it (if both babies were head down, blah blah blah)...but I don't have a good feeling that is going to happen. I guess I'm setting myself up for the worst case scenario so I don't get disappointed. I'm also going to continue to go for ultrasounds every month, and I think he said I'd start non-stress tests every 2 weeks once I'm in my 3 trimester.

Fun fun.

The reason I love this doc? When I told him about the marker that one of my babies had for trisomy 18 - he told me that BOTH his daughters had the exact same thing, and they are totally healthy. Made me feel much more at ease... even though I honestly wasn't that worried to begin with (but of course, was worried that I wasn't worried!?! That's a normal Cece reaction for you!).

I was reading the book 'What to expect when you are expecting twins, triplets or quads' - and they recommend that you gain 20 pounds in the first 20 weeks. My doc hasn't said a thing about my weight gain... but of course, I went into this pregnancy 10 pounds over what I was when I got pregnant with Hulk - and it isn't like I'm wasting away. I just really want to avoid any NICU time with the girls....but I also don't know what else I could be eating to gain weight! I feel like I eat like a pig!

Hulk was somewhat miserable this weekend - his top two teeth are coming in. He even had a fever and threw up on Aaron on Sunday - but yesterday he was back to his normal happy self. I can feel the teeth, but I can't see them yet. I'm hoping he continues to be happy (and sleeping well - he slept really well last night too) for this weekend. I'm planning on going to the cabin to spend the weekend with my mother. Aaron is off to CA for another weekend with his buddies so I figured it would be a good time to go to the cabin. Just hope that Hulk sleeps better there than he did last time.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Summer is here, finally

The weather is finally getting nice, my brother is visiting this weekend, and our planned vacation is a little more than a week away. I'm really excited about my brother coming - he is my half-brother, and we really only got to know each other over the past 15 years. He has a really neat family (4 boys) and they are all coming and staying at my house on Saturday night. Sunday we are going to go into Boston and do a duck tour... and then they are off to the Berkshires for the week.

For our vacation, we are staying home. This is what we usually do, and as I've mentioned in the past, Aaron will be embarking on his favorite thing - tearing up a part of our house. This time it is his workshop. I'm hoping to be able to work on the nursery. But Hulk is going in for his minor surgery on the 6th...so we'll have that to deal with also. I am excited for a block of time when I won't be dealing with work bullshit. Things at work are just annoying and crazy.

Hulk is so funny now that he is crawling. I want to make a video in which I put 3 items on the floor - a teddy bear, a sharp stick, and a knife. I will bet a million dollars that he will first crawl to the knife, then the sharp stick and then, reluctantly, the teddy bear. He is also finally figuring out that he can follow me places, so it isn't such a crisis when I leave the room. Oh! And the bath scare seems to be over. Last night he was totally fine in the tub, and had a great night's sleep. I'm hoping that keeps up for the weekend when I have 8 people trying to sleep in our house!

Monday, July 20, 2009

TWO GIRLS!!!

I am over the freaking moon. I really didn't know what I was expecting, but I'm SO excited that we are having 2 girls!!! So so excited.

We pretty much had the BEST ultrasound tech also. She was kind and explained everything. She saw Baby A as a girl 100% when Aaron went to the bathroom, heh heh (and showed me - I saw the 3 lines). She couldn't pin down Baby B - but she gave an 80% chance of girl on her too. The doc came and she 100% saw that Baby B was a girl, and couldn't see it on A! So - for me, that is confirmation.

The heart, kidney's, brain, bladders and stomachs on both baby's were perfect. One of the babies (I can't remember which) had a marker for trisomy 18. It had something to do with the top of the spine - but the doc said she wasn't very concerned, and the heart and head shape of that baby was just fine. I guess that 1 in 500 'normal' babies also will have that... and I'm not going to have an amnio anyway. I did ask Dr Google, and he said "studies have shown that a single marker found on ultrasound is usually not a good indicator of a chromosomal condition (ref 3,4). In other words, if only one marker is found during a level 2 ultrasound, the odds are very high that the baby is healthy."

We go back in a month, and the doc did say they would recheck that, and she expected that it would be resolved anyway.

HURRAH FOR BABY GIRLS!!!!

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Revel Yourselves!

Tomorrow is the big ultrasound day! For what it's worth, I think it's two boys - Aaron think it's a boy and a girl. I really hope that all is well with the gang, and they decide to show their stuff! I will report back when I get home.

We just got home from the cabin. It was a pretty OK visit. My mom acted as if nothing happened. Hulk HATED swimming in the pond (he also hates being in the BIG bath, whereas the little infant bath that he really doesn't fit in anymore is fine). He also barely slept. I'm pretty sure he is teething again (awesome). But the weather is finally nice and I've still got a few hours of weekend left! Off to enjoy....

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Current State of Sleep and the Belly

Last night, Hulk went to bed at 7 PM and woke up at 6 AM. Aaron gave him a bottle, put him back in his crib (a move never done before) and he slept again until 7:45! We were strong over the past few days, and we are (hopefully) being rewarded. Monday night he woke up at 3 Am and cried on and off until 4, and then woke up at 6:30. Tuesday night it was a 3:30 AM wake up with 30 minutes of crying, followed by a 6:45 wake up for real... and then last nights blissful 11 hour solid sleep (followed by another couple of hours!). I'm not calling it a success yet - but it is progress!

And speaking of progress, here is a picture of my belly from today:


Yep, I'm going to have trouble going through doorways in a few months.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Moving onto sleep issues

After venting yesterday to pretty much everyone about my mother - I am working on coming up with a plan to talk to her. Not sure what I'm going to say, but as Aaron noted, she pretty much leaves our house after every visit upset, and then acts as if nothing happened. Case in point, she called Monday night all excited about our visit to the cabin this weekend. I'm certainly going to talk about the dog issues, and also that if she is bothered by something, she either needs to let it go - or say something. No more bringing shit up 2 months later and holding grudges.

I just don't have the energy to deal with that crap anymore.

Speaking of not having the energy.... I've alluded a few times to Hulk's sleeping issues. I don't think that they are really that bad, in all honestly. I have friends with horror stories of sleep issues - so I count myself lucky. A standard night will consist of him going to bed pretty well at 7 PM, and sleeping soundly until 2 or 3 - when he'll cry a little and I'll get up (might as well, since I need to pee anyway) and give him his binkie or blanket or whatever and he falls asleep. That'll happen maybe 2 or 3 times a night - but it isn't like he wakes all of the way up, since I would get in there pretty quickly. Then, he'll get up again between 4 - 5 and this time the crying is much more intense. But it's also the time that Aaron gets up to go to work. So what we had been doing, was Aaron would go in, change him, fed him, and then bring him into bed with me - where he would sleep for another 2 hours (usually).

Now that he is crawling and sitting up? Not so 'easy'. For a few nights, I could barely get him to fall asleep - like Sunday night he fussed from 7:30 - 9. He would get close to dosing off, roll over, and then just start crawling! And he would then wake up, and crawl and bang his head on the side of the crib - resulting in WAILING. And I would go in and try to comfort him - to no avail. After the poopfest of a few weekends ago, I was so tired, I was just giving up at 2 or 3, and going into the guest room and sleeping with him (in bed with me? No crawling, he wouldn't even roll over. He looks at me, turns his head, and passes out). After a weekend of super crappy sleeping - I was really frustrated (along with mother frustration and general 'it's finally summer and I'm fucking hot and pregnant' frustration). All my buddies with kids said - time to just let him cry.

So that is what we started last night. He woke up at 3. LOUD CRYING. But - if you give him about 10 minutes, it goes from LOUD crying to more quiet little calls out - like he is saying 'guys? GUYS? I want to sleep with Mumma?! Come get me?' and eventually he'd stop for a few minutes and then start up again. By 4 AM he was asleep again, and slept until 6:30. I got up, changed him and got him ready for the day - and fed him he bottle. I then, instead of bringing him into bed for another hour of sleep with mom, went into our room and he played while I got ready for work.

Now we just have to stay tough. At least when I picked him up out of the crib this morning, I still got a big smile.

Monday, July 13, 2009

Good God.

This was quite a weekend! In good news, we picked up the nursery set and it is in awesome shape. Probably the best deal I could have gotten. And the woman who we bought it from was really great - she also turned me onto this neat highchair, the Kettler Kombi. We have a rather small kitchen, and I was trying to use a trapp trapp. I love the design - the idea is great and it's nice and small. But for a little guy learning to use finger food, there isn't a tray. So I was tucking him into the table, and putting the food there...and it just is a struggle to get him to concentrate on the food instead of the other things on the table... blah blah blah (I know, I could CLEAN the table, but I'm being realistic). So I got a free high chair off the side of the road (yep, I'm that girl) and I cleaned it up - but it's HUGE. It's seems to take up so much space, and it's kind of awkward to feed him in it. But he does love the tray and being able to have the cheerios to play with while eating. Anyway - this Kombi thing is still nice and small, and it converts to a toddler chair/table! I ordered one for the Hulk, and if it works out - I'll get 2 more for the twins. Later. Way later.

I also did some more work on cleaning out the twins room - and we are almost 100% there. Next step? Wallpaper removal. Fun fun! Not.

My mother was visiting, and like I've said before, she is just HARD. She has been alone for so long she is lacking in social skills, and also hasn't been in a relationship for more than 6 years (and that was 28 years ago). So she is always watching Aaron and I and judging. And she thinks Aaron is controlling... want to know why? Because he watched her give Hulk a bath on Saturday night. She is 68 years old, bad arthritis in both hands, and she is bending over a tub with a 23 pound soapy, squirmy baby. I felt better knowing he was there too! Jesus. Anyway - she tried to 'help' him when he was moving something heavy down the stairs, and he almost feel down the stairs. He yelled at her (yes, not appropriate) and she packed up and left (also not appropriate). I followed her out to the car, and she is telling me how she feels like she is walking on eggshells around him (and brought up a fight that Aaron and I had in front of her last visit, 2 months ago - which is another thing with her - she will remember things like that until the dawn of time. He will Never. Live. That. Down)- to I tell her if she has a problem to go talk to him (he is upstairs trying, in vain, to get Hulk to nap - that is another story). She says 'I'm not doing that', and leaves.

Awesome. Like I need this. First, I'm thinking I need to mend this. But you know what? She is a grown up. I don't need to deal with this bullshit. If she has a problem with Aaron, she should confront Aaron. Of course, I know she won't do that - so I'm going to need to figure out a way to have this conversation with her. It will also involve some rough words about her untrained dog - because she brings it with her whenever she visits, and she has it follow her around on a LEASH INSIDE. I had two boxers also - so she is taking it places that my dogs can't go (dining room, or kitchen when we are cooking) and just causes general annoyance. Of course Aaron needs to not YELL at my mother - but at the same time, my mother needs to realize that she isn't perfect also. I'm mostly nervous because she has hated my SIL for forever, and it made it so my brother was basically forced to choose between his mother and his wife. What do you think he chose? Now he is getting divorced, and I don't think that is the issue... but Jesus.

Sigh. I don't think it will get that far - but in the back of my head I'm nervous it will... and seriously. I don't have the energy for it.

Friday, July 10, 2009

Let's see.

What is going on here. It's been a long week. With Aaron gone until Tuesday, and then him working last night until midnight (or whenever he got home, I noticed he was in bed with me at midnight) I've been on Mommy-duty alone a lot more than usual. Add in the fact that we found out yesterday that the project we've been working on since I was on maternity leave was pulled. As in cease and desist working on it. They even told people to not come in today (I came in because I'm on other projects). I feel two ways about this - one is frustration. Many people worked almost 22 weeks straight, 7 days a week with the delusion that we would still go live. It was pretty obvious about a month ago that things weren't going to make it (we were supposed to go live in May, and then June.... and then it switched to TBD). To burn people out like that makes me angry. I was able to keep my team out of the fire... so they aren't as burned out - which is good.

So, I'm somewhat relieved that they finally 'called' it. But then there is the nervous factor in which this was a 5 year, multi-million dollar project that was the stability for our team. Even though we were in banking - we had this project. Now, it's up in the air if my division will keep it. I'm just thankful that about a year ago, when I was asked if I wanted to take on the role of QA Manager for the project - I declined. At the time, many were shocked that I would turn down the opportunity. It was a promotion (but not in my mind - it meant going back to working weekends and go-lives - which are brutal and soul sucking). But I was pregnant, and I didn't want the added stress. After watching the guy they did hire work his ASS off - I know I made the right decision months ago, but now it is even MORE clear.

Back to the good. There are a bunch of things going on with Hulk and the twins that are making me smile.
  • Hulk is crawling. But backwards. It is WAY too entertaining to watch him figure it all out. He wants to go forwards, but he ends up moving backwards. He looks at me and is like "What the hell!?" - and I laugh. Hopefully not scarring him for life
  • This new found movement makes it so he can entertain himself (!) for long stretches of time... a nice change.
  • But... at night, he'll crawl backwards in his crib and get stuck in a corner and cry and cry. Nothing will soothe him - so I end up bringing him to bed with me at 3 AM. Not the best solution (nor a long term one! 3 babies, 2 adults, one bed? I don't think so). Any suggestions? Or is this a 'this to shall pass sort of thing'.
  • Hulk is also trying new, more textured foods. Like instead of mashing up a banana, I'll give him a chunk. He'll get it in his mouth and makes this face - like WHAT IS THIS!? And then chew it and have a look of total relief... oh. It's banana. I like banana. And it totally cracks me up.
  • I play a new game called 'messing with the twins'. I don't feel them kicking constantly yet, so if it's been a while, I'll drink some OJ, wait 20 minutes, and then they'll go crazy. It's entertainment.

That is all the news here. Lots to do this weekend - we are getting the nursery set, cleaning out the twins room some more, and my mother is coming to babysit so we can go out for Hulk's godfather's birthday. Bring on the weekend!

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Finally healthy!

I took Hulk to the doc today to check his ear - all is clear! This is the first time since mid-May, he doesn't have an ear infection, cold, or poop issue. Hurrah!

I was trying to upload this ridiculously cute video of Hulk crawling backwards, and then getting a big LICK from one of the dogs... but I guess it was too huge to upload. Oh well. You all missed out on major cuteness.

For whatever reason, today I feel a lightness (? I guess that is the best way to describe it?). Like something crappy is lifted. I have such a happy, sweet baby - and am lucky enough to have two more (hopefully happy like their big brother!) on the way. I guess I've passed the freaking out stage, and now and really getting excited about the future.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

It had to happen

First, in mommy-blogger news, Hulk is totally recovered. No runny nose, poop is normal, and he slept last night from 8 PM to 6 AM. Not a peep all night.

And Aaron is back! He is going to pick up Hulk at daycare tonight, and I can run a few errands. And I won't have to sleep alone tonight.

In 'you knew it had to happen eventually, Cece is freaking out about the babies', news.... I've really been on the ball about things. Cleaning out the yarn room to get ready to start fixing it up. This weekend, I'm going to pick up that nursery set. The smart, practical woman in me knows that I should be doing this. Working on things while I feel good and have energy. Picking up the nursery set before the woman realizes what a steal I'm getting for them and changes her mind(and avoiding me having to go through the drama of ordering them). But then. I look at the empty room, and think - what if something bad happens? Looking at this empty room is going to tear me apart! Moving my stuff back in will be heartbreaking. Knowing I have a whole nursery full of furniture... shouldn't I wait?!

Sigh. I'm going to move forward. It's going to be fine. It's just sad that those thoughts creep in, you know?

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Day 3

Aaron left at 4:30 AM on Friday morning. Hulk slept like a rock star that night.... it was like the calm before the (poop) storm.

I should have known, when daycare lightly mentioned that a gastric 'thing' was going around - of course Hulk would get it. But that he got it when I was san-husband... that was a nice touch. The very best present my friend (and Cameron's god mother) ever gave me was to come and spend the weekend with me. I've never been so thankful to have a second pair of hands... and a pair of hands that loves to hold and cuddle my son, too!

When we got home from dropping Aaron at the airport, Hulk had a nasty poopy diaper. I changed it, thought nothing more of it, and we went back to bed until I needed to login to work. Then, the never ending weekend of poop began. He pooped pretty much ever hour throughout the day on Friday. Suzanne arrive around 2:30 PM - I had given up on working at 2 and taken both Hulk and myself to bed for a nap - he was super cranky the entire morning/early afternoon and I couldn't get him to nap by himself. When I came back downstairs from the nap - there was my savior! If it wasn't for Suzanne, Hulk would have been crying a lot more (you really couldn't even put him down for a minute, he was that miserable. If you were holding him? Happy baby. Leave the room? Full on tears.) and I don't think I would have eaten all weekend.

Friday night was pretty awesome, he went to sleep at 7 and slept until 4:30 - but I couldn't sleep at all because I was freaking out he was going to poop out of his PJs and I'd have to deal with it in the middle of the night. He pooped himself awake at 4:30, and he went back to sleep until 7! Heaven!

All day Saturday was pretty much a study in covering the house in poop. He pooped on me, Suzanne, the rug, his high chair, through 5 different outfits... it was awesome. And Saturday night, at 2:30 - there was the poopolision that I was dreading the night before. I couldn't deal with changing his sheets, so he came to bed with me.... where I got no sleep freaking out that he was dehydrated and would never ever stop pooping. Oh, and add on hunger (and no Aaron to poke awake to get me a snack. I eventually got my ass out of bed and got my own snack.). He woke up at 6:30, had one final poop.... at that was it!

No more poop since. I'm am praying to all that is holy that he has a great nights sleep tonight and is able to go to day care for the full day tomorrow. Suzanne left here around 4, and Aaron comes home Tuesday night. So only 2 nights on my own, I'd like it to be with a happy, minimally poopy baby.

What are the odds of that happening? I'm going to spend all day at work freaking out that daycare will call, telling me to come get him.

Oh - in other news? The twins room is 99% clear of yarn stuff! And, the guest room is maybe 80% moved into and organized! We were able to do a bunch of work even with Sir Poopsalot!

*I have to add. When else in my life am I going to be able to use the word 'poop' 14 times in one blog post?!*

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Slept all night!

For the first time in weeks, Hulk slept all night. High levels of excitement here! Now, to see if it continues through the weekend, when I'm flying (semi) solo. I will have Hulk's godmother here with me, but I doubt she'll be involved in night time wake ups!

The rain doesn't appear that it is EVER planning on ending. I'm so glad that Hulk isn't older, as some of my friends with super active 2 or 3 years olds are getting ready to jump off a bridge at this point, I'm sure.

This weekend I'm really hoping to make a large amount of progress on cleaning out my yarn room. The shelving is out and ready to be restocked. The books are out. So, it's all about going through my stash and dealing with knitting/sewing/quilting accessories that are stored now in the closet. It seems like an achievable goal, but I find that I get really tired quickly, so hopefully Suzanne can keep me on track.

Once we get all the stuff out, we can slowly start removing wallpaper and the carpets. At the earliest, I think we could really start painting the weekend of July 25th - I want to wait until the 19 week ultrasound to really decide what to do for colors. I'm currently leaning towards a red rug, off-white walls, and then some sort of colorful designs on the walls... but I reserve the right to totally change my mind at anytime. We are taking the first week in August off for vacation - but I think Aaron has different plans than finishing a nursery!