11.18.09

Just playing around a little bit here... bear with me ...

08.01.09

Everyone always says with #2 you are more laid-back, more relaxed, just more go-with-the-flow. I really thought that was probably true, especially when you have your babies closer together, but given that our boys ended up being 4 years apart, I thought maybe we would be just as scheduled, just as routined, just as high-strung as we were with Oliver. Nope! Not the case! Without even realizing it, without trying, our household is definitely more relaxed with baby #2. Some differences? Well, for starters we typically have no recollection of the last time he ate. We know he did. We know he (probably?) finished the bottle. And we know he'll cry when he's hungry again! And tummy time?? Oi ... when I remember it happens! I know for sure Oliver was on a "schedule" by now. He had scheduled feedings, scheduled naps. Liam?? Well, he kinda just sleeps when he's tired!! This one though I do want to reign in a little bit and try to get a nap schedule going, but the urgency, the "need" for a schedule simply isn't there. One thing that is really helping is that I did take 12 weeks off of work. Please....if you are pregnant, reading this, and able to do so....TAKE 12 WEEKS OFF!! It has been amazing for me - given us time to adjust, yet at the same time the desire to go back to work is actually slowly returning. I am anticipating it, knowing it is coming, yet still feeling like I have enough time at home. So it goes with the nap schedule -- I know we need one, and we'll get there, but I've got some time to play around with.

The reverse of laid-back has happened in regards to the household, though, and in a good way. We are pretty laid back when it comes to picking up our house -- it happens, just not frequently enough. If there are toys all over the house and I want to go to bed, well, I typically would just go to bed. I'm being brutally honest here, which is kinda hard to do knowing my mother will probably at some point be reading this. :) If you know my mother, and know her house, there isn't one little thing out of place. Ever. And how she managed to be graced with two daughters who ... well ... have LOTS of things out of place ... is beyond me (us). But that is life and we're okay with it! Well, I was okay with it. But now with two boys I am finding that if I wake up to a messy house right off the get-go, I'm not in a good mood. And when I find myself feeling overwhelmed with a whining 4-year old and a screaming infant, the clutter only adds to the chaos. With a deliberate mind-set change, (and one that needs to be reminded of to me several times a day!) and lots of effort on both Jer and mine's part, we have been slowly changing habits and I would say our house is more picked up and clean now than it ever was in the past. And it really does help me feel not so overwhelmed.

Liam this month ... slept for several 6-8 hour chunks, though not consistently :) ... has been changed to a different formula and has made for a much happier, albeit still spitty, baby ... has started smiling and melting our hearts, especially at 4 a.m. ... has realized he has hands and is somewhat fascinated by them ... can his hold his head up much better ... has started to like bath time, especially with extra warm water ... still loves to fall asleep and stay asleep during car rides ... has some hair growing back in the front of his head and it looks like the hair is here to stay! ... is 8 weeks old today. :-)

Oliver this month ... is back to old Oliver, full of comments and sayings - "Can't you just put that baby down???" ... turned 4 years old! ... learned to ride his bike without training wheels, right before his birthday ... got a haircut and mommy's irrational fears that the curls wouldn't return were once again ungrounded and the curls are there, unscathed ... loves loves loves his baby brother .... kisses kisses kisses his baby brother ... hugs hugs hugs his baby brother ... all at the inappropriate times, like when I've just settled him down and now he's been awakened again, but who can get mad at brotherly love?? ... lastly Oliver is still, and will always be, my Baby. We actually talked about this one because he was confused why I was still calling him Baby. I told him it was my nickname for him, but I would stop calling him that if he wanted me to. But he just smiled and said no, he wants me to call him my Baby. And Baby remains, though baby he is not!

And finally, some smiles to leave you with!

06.15.09

One week old!! Well, actually more like a week and a half, but oh well. :) We are all doing well and thriving, adjusting to life as a family of four!

I can say with confidence that Oliver's world just about fell apart completely. LOL He had a really hard first few days. He took it out on everybody at some point in time, and at one point all we did was ask him to put on his socks, and he totally lost it and had a tantrum!! Jeremy and I realized that maybe our expectations of him were a teensy-weensy bit high, and after he and I made some adjustments, as well as some compromises, things are getting much better. Getting better everyday, actually. But I do have to say that this part took me by surprise. I was worried about having two children, the adjustment to be made with a baby again, the sleep deprivation!, but never did I worry too much about Oliver. He, by far, has had to make the biggest adjustment and in turn we were taken by surprise at how easy the baby seemed suddenly, and now how are we going to help our first child through this? But like I said each day gets a little better, but we have said more than once that we feel like we are in completely new territory for us, and that gets a bit scary sometimes!

Liam is doing great - he is such a good baby. He is starting to show little bits of his personality already...he is a finger sucker, by nature. I have never witnessed this before! But already if no pacifier is in reach, well, by all means, he has ten fingers! He has soothed himself to sleep twice already by doing this. He also takes after his father and brother in that he likes to be a *clean* baby. Liam cries for 2 reasons - he either needs to eat, or he has a wet/poopy diaper. Oliver grew into his cleanliness ... he could sit in a wet diaper all day long, didn't bother him! But not Liam - he cries pretty much within minutes of getting that diaper wet. And fine by me! The sooner that thing gets changed the less diaper rashes we'll ever have to deal with. He's a great sleeper and has already given us several 4-hour chunks of sleep. Makes you feel like a new person after getting 4 hours of sleep!! We are just so in love with him...I am so in love with him. Jeremy often asks, quite sarcastically, if he can *please* hold the baby now. :-)

Below is the birth story ... so men you might want to stop reading here. (There are pictures at the very bottom!) But if anybody is interested, I always like writing it down to share and to remember it by. I smile thinking of this labor and delivery, as it was really just what I was hoping for. God is good and many prayers were answered!

TTFN ~ J

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On Friday (6/6/09) I had an appointment just like every other Friday. Since I work in the office we'll often just have my appointment really quick, first thing in the morning. I had had 2 previous weekly visits, both times my cervix being closed, high, and basically not doing anything. Same old story as Oliver!! But this appointment, she said she was going to bring my cervix around to the front, because it was facing the back and after she did that she said I as dialated 2 cm! I was beyond excited, and I think we were both a little surprised. Now we need to back a little bit...

Starting Wednesday I had an intuition that Liam was going to be born soon. I even told Jeremy that it wouldn't be long. He just laughed and said "Yeah, right" and also something along the lines of that I had just jinxed it! But I just said again, really, that I didn't think it would be long until we met this baby. All throughout that day then I started having loose stools. Not fun, mind you, as well as embarassing! But I secretly hoped this was a sign labor was coming, as it often can be. Wednesday night I got little to no sleep. I could not get comfortable, I was in and out of the bathroom all night, I was having pains, and finally fell asleep at like 5 a.m. I told Jeremy to call work, tell them I'm going to be late. Thursday was hard again. Loose stools all day, lots of discomfort, just lots of pregnancy stuff. I kept wishing this all meant something, but really didn't believe it entirely. Thursday night was much better for sleep, but I did have one single solitary contraction that woke me up in the middle of the night with pain going through to my back. I stayed up and waited for the next one, thinking surely this was it! And ... it never came. One lousy contraction. Woopee!! LOL Well, then came Friday.

So now we're at my appointment and I'm dialated! Maybe that one contraction did more than I thought! :) Anyways, it's common to spot after getting checked and I did do that a little immediately after the appointment. I went about the day, having random contractions here and there but nothing too different from the Braxton Hicks I always get. Then about 2:30 I had one good contraction, and a pretty big urge to go to the bathroom. I got to the bathroom to have quite a bit of bloody show - requiring a pad. This was different than before. I went back to work, trying not to think too much about it. Then the contractions did start @ about 3:30. I started timing them and we were at about 8-10 minutes apart. I then talked to my Dr. and asked her if I get hooked up, just to see what was going on. Sure enough, they were showing up and pretty soon everybody started getting a little excited, because we really weren't expecting this! She checked me again right before 5:00, and I was now 3 cm! I think it really sunk in then that this was happening. She advised me not to leave, not to go home, but to stay in town. I just about called a good friend to see if I could go to her house, but then Dr. L told me to go to her house. She's beyond a good doctor...seriously. So after getting carpool squared away I hung out in her basement, laboring for a few hours until Jeremy got there. (He didn't think I was serious about this at all. It wasn't until the third phone call that he actually got the picture and started frantically running around the house packing! I think his favorite memory is telling Oliver I was going to have the baby and Oliver had to go to Hailey's house -- so Oliver went downstairs and got his shoes on and his backpack on his back all by himself and came upstairs and declared to daddy he was ready to go!) Dr. L was going to go the hospital to check on someone else, so we decided to go too and see where I was at. After getting admitted, she checked me again and I was now 4-5 cm (still CANNOT believe this! My body figured it out!!!) and this time then she broke my water and off we went! We labored for a few good hours working through each contraction. I reached the point though, where I no longer felt the desire to do it without the epidural. I started vomiting (did this Oliver too) and shaking, all signs of labor progressing. I asked to be checked and was 6 cm, so I decided to get the epidural then. The CRNA did such a great job - it was in within 5 minutes and was "just right." I could still move my legs, still feel the contractions, but it was much more manageable. We went like that for about 2 more hours until I was complete and ready to push. This is where fear kinda set in for me. I pushed, quite unsuccessfully, for 3+ hours with Oliver. That was horrible and I hated it. So I started pushing and the nurse said we had "some work to do," meaning more pushing. Dr. L came in and had me do a few good pushes and she seemed pleased, but did say that baby was OP - meaning coming face up, instead of face down. It makes pushing more difficult and can bring on some intense back labor. Many comments were made about the epidural being a good thing! They didn't need to tell me!! :) We had some good pushes and I kept thinking they were lying to me, just encouraging me to keep going so I wouldn't give up. (Dr. L knew I was worried about this part.) It wasn't until they told me to feel his head (OMGoodness!!) that I finally believed we were close to done. Maybe 3 pushes later Mr. Liam was born, 45 minutes after we had started pushing. I was so elated!! I know I screamed out loud and I got the great experience of holding him immediately after birth, also something I didn't get to do with Oliver. The resident later told me I was the happiest mother he had seen immediately after birth, and it made the experience very rewarding for him! He was great, Dr. L was great, the nurse was great. Everyone was so encouraging and it made such a difference. I didn't think I had bad care last time, until I had good care this time.

45 minutes later I was up using the bathroom and have been going ever since. Recovery is going well but I have awesome support at home in the form of an amazing husband and mother, as well as in-laws. I have to admit, after the death of an uncle, a grandma, and the loss of a much-wanted baby, life is pretty sweet right now. I'm typing with one hand, have puke all over my shirt, and 2 hours worth of dishes to do, but I haven't been this happy in a long time. :)

Many blessings~J

06.07.09

We welcome

Liam David Marquardt

to the world!

Born 6/6/09 1:18 a.m.

6 lbs. 9 oz. 20.5 inches

05.31.09

One day before June! I'm due in June! Oliver was so cute tonight - we have a "Cars" calendar in his room, and each month has a picture of one of the characters. June's character is the Sheriff. For months, he would ask when the baby is coming, and we would reply "when the Sheriff is on the calendar." Well, tonight we flipped the page over to get ready for June 1, and there was the Sheriff!! The look on his face and the realization that the month with the Sheriff on it was actually here was priceless! He was so excited putting two and two together, and just looked at me with the biggest eyes saying "The baby's coming soon!" Yes, honey, he is! Hopefully. :)

I am 37 weeks pregnant and feeling good. I'm going through all I should be going through. I'm feeling everything - I feel big, I feel pressure, I have back pain, I have daily contractions, I have all those things. But I think having gone through it once before makes it much easier the second time. I know this stage doesn't last forever. I know a few more weeks is best for baby and I'm okay waiting those weeks out. I am also lucky that I have an amazing husband who will rub my back and my feet whenever I ask him to! :) I am a lucky girl - I know!!! Also, having the house done and the carpet in has done more for my anxiety than I even imagined. I am enjoying my house - my newly arranged bedroom - the baby's room - all of it. I love it! And it really does make the waiting easier.

Because posts are always better with pictures ... here's one after our *very* long day today. We are becoming members at our church (after almost 4 years! haha) and thus had another "class" today at 9 am. I had to go a little earlier to arrange my music for playing today. So we got there about 9, had the class, did church at 10:30, had the Sunday School picnic after, end-of-year games after that and then our Small Group decided to meet as well, after all of that. We got home around 4 pm. It was a LONG day. And this picture is what happened literally 15 minutes after getting home! Ollie is still holding on for dear life to the water gun he won at the games. I let them sleep for 45 minutes before getting them up, but it was pretty cute.

Also...some favorite Ollie quotes from the week!! Enjoy. :)

Ollie: "What's wrong, Daddy?"

Daddy: "Oh, Daddy just said something dumb and now Mommy's mad at him." :)

Ollie: "Oh, great. Now I have to get a new Daddy."

During small group, we received word that one of the 3 year olds decided to take off her clothes and go running around outside. Ollie comes flying in the room with the biggest eyes, "MOM! MOM! You've gotta come see Abby!!"

Oliver has been carrying around a picture of his Grammy and Grampy Sell. He knows Grampy Sell is in heaven with Jesus, and during this particular day was telling anybody and everybody who would listen. Our neighbor came over to chat.

Ollie: "Do you know my Grampy Sell is in heaven?"

N: "Oh, okay!"

Ollie: "That's where you go when you die. You look like you're gonna die."

Putting Ollie to bed:

Mommy: "Good night Ollie. I love you. Can I have a hug?"

Ollie: "No. Superman doesn't do hugs."

05.22.09

One month! It's been one month since I have posted and it has been one LONG month! But so much positive has happened - most notably we got our carpet!! Our original install date was April 6th, but after a few reschedules the carpet finally went in Wednesday, 6 long weeks later. We have been living with horrible foamy/dirty/dusty subfloors for that time and the sheer joy that was felt when we didn't have to "wipe off" our feet before getting into bed for the night was overwhelming! Jeremy and I both felt like giddy grade school kids and just wanted to SIT on the carpet. Not to mention - now the baby has a room!! Let's talk baby!....

I'm 35w5d today and feeling every one of those weeks! I'm going through all of the things that I should with one month left but doing well. I like to rest/sleep lots still, though. :) I had an appointment today with my first internal check and as expected (history repeating itself) I am *not* dialated! Imagine that! hehe Baby is now head down and low, but measuring a tad on the small side. This has been going on for a few appointments, but has continued. My uterus should be measuring about 36 cm, and was measuring only 33 cm. So I was sent for ultrasound and baby is simply...a little small! Everything looked great - good amniotic fluid, baby just a tad small! (That's okay with me. :) They are estimating him at 4 lbs. 15 oz. right now - and he can gain a pound a week, though that's not likely. But we're looking at probably 7-8 pounds. I am going to be seen weekly now until the end! I can't believe it's almost here.

Here's the latest picture - sorry for the self portrait but I actually have the house to myself tonight and the self-timer on the camera wasn't working quite right. I'm also loading one from when Oliver was 36 weeks for comparison. Kinda hard to compare but you can see it's a bit smaller, but also much lower!!

I'm also attaching some pictures of the remodel project. You can see the progression of everything and we're just so excited to be nearly done! All that's left is putting up the new doors, which shouldn't take long at all.

I hope you are all well and enjoying the beginning of summer. Even with lower temps, I'll take the sunshine any day!!

04.26.09

Hello from the Marquardt Household and my apologies for how sporadic my posting has been. Life has been very crazy!! I have to be honest, I just erased my entire post. I had written so much that I realized it became more of a vent session to the world than at all what this is really about - our growing family. But I would be lying if I didn't say I had felt overwhelmed in the last 4 weeks. I have. But I will say that I see a light at the end of the tunnel, and as always, God's presence surrounds the chaos that is my house!! That has been evident over and over again, and I praise His name for it.

Baby is growing, growing, growing!! I had my first 2 week appointment this past week (now 32 weeks) and it was a reality check being seen again so soon, this baby is coming quickly! If you remember back to Oliver's pregnancy I dealt a lot with Braxton-Hicks contractions, and at one point was taken off of work from 33-35 weeks. That is happening again, but I feel much better equipped to deal with them this time. There have been a few painful ones, but really nothing that raises a true red flag. His activity is still, in my mind, much more subdued than Oliver's was, but he has definite periods now of sleeping and activity. If I watch for those times he's pretty consistent. One uncomfortable thing is he turns - a lot. He was breech last visit, this visit was head down, and now is transverse (laying sideways). I say that with confidence because I feel no movement in the lower pelvis or high by the ribcage, but only on both my hips!!! It's weird and uncomfortable and I hope he moves again soon.

Lastly are some pictures - some from Easter, Awards Night @ Awana, and the Circus. Oliver has had a lot of fun this month and one story that sticks out as my favorite was Awards Night @ Awana. He was standing up there, SO proud & standing tall, tummy out, and trying hard to keep a serious face, but found it in himself to scope me out of the crowd to give me the cutest, most obvious wink, still never breaking the serious character! It melted my heart and was one of the cutest things he's ever done. I can't believe I've been given the opportunity to be his mom, to enjoy this. And God's going to give me another little boy - I really can't wait!

~jrm~

Oliver enjoying the elephants at the Circus

Awards Night for Awana @ church -- he was so proud!!


Adorable Kyla - Precious Parker!


The Bimbo Boys watching Veggie Tales

Marquard Family Easter 2009 - Pirate finger puppets and all

04.01.09

There was a very popular "note" going around on Facebook, called "25 Random Things About Me." I thought since it's been a bit since my last post - we'd modify that a little bit and have some fun with it.

~25 Random Things About This Pregnancy~

1. I am 28 weeks and 3 days today.

2. I had an appointment today - all went well!

3. This baby is still breech. And loving it. The bladder apparently makes a good trampoline.

4. My glucose tolerance test for gestational diabetes was today. I passed with flying colors! I was actually on the low side for blood sugar. And I no longer believe anyone who says Mt. Dew has too much sugar. My blood doesn't agree with you!! LOL

5. We got the new crib sheets - very exciting.

6. The upstiars construction is going well.

7. We currently have no carpet upstairs. That part isn't the most fun. But I keep dreaming of new carpet...soon! Coming April 22nd.

8. I have rockstar parents who came and helped with all the remodeling. My dad makes a mean staircase and my mom is really good at scraping old, icky, cat urine smelling carpet out of rooms.

9. I also have a rockstar brother that came and helped out a ton this week. He's turning out to be quite the handy man. Roofing - painting - ripping out carpet - entertaining a 3 year old - eating an entire box of Velveeta by himself - spooning my baby dog Cooper - you name it, Chris does it!!

10. I also have a rockstar sister. Her and her hubby make some awesome kids. And she offers a TON of emotional support. You can just ask her about that. She knows how crazy I am.

11. Even though baby is breech, he still prefers my right side. I look quite lopsided.

12. I am now on 2-week appointments. How crazy is that?

13. If I could describe this pregnancy in one word = EXHAUSTED.

14. I still have no swelling. YEA!

15. I unfortunately have the face of a 14 year old. BOO.

16. I was obsessed with "belly pics" with Oliver's pregnancy. This pregnancy I have taken a total of 3 whopping pictures.

17. The Braxton Hicks contractions that pretty much plagued Oliver's last trimester have started. I get them most days, several times a day. I just don't get all worked up about them this time! They don't hurt. My baby's moving. All is good.

18. To combat Braxton Hicks, you should drink lots of water. I hate water.

19. This baby is still quiet - but has what I call "freak out" moments. All of a sudden he will just go NUTS! And then nothing. It's quite comical.

20. We are narrowed down to 2 names. Those 2 names change quite frequently. But we usually don't agree on more than 2. :)

21. Sleeping is getting more difficult. Numb hips, sore shoulders, round ligament pains. But amazingly enough very few, if any, bathroom trips. I'll take that!

22. I'm beginning to wonder if it's possible that I may get more sleep after this baby is born. Even considering the newborn factor, I still think I may sleep better/feel more rested after baby is out.

23. Oliver is starting to act up. More on that later ... but we're narrowing it down to the fact that he realizes another baby may be coming. And we don't think he's too happy about it. He is almost 4 and smarter than we give him credit for.

24. Still not dealing with much heartburn. YEA!

25. Baby just used his trampoline again. I just about peed my pants. :)

03.12.09

Hello from the frozen tundra that is North Dakota! Can you believe we had another blizzard? About a *week* before Spring is officially here?? Good times...

Pregnancy wise this baby is just moving along! I still am not dealing with very many physical symptoms, but I am TIRED, TIRED, TIRED. I could sleep the day away and be perfectly content with that. Heartburn has started acting up in the last 2 days, especially today, but again is managable. Lots of movements - they have increased a lot and are very fun to feel. I had another appointment and everything was measuring as it should, with the next appointment bringing the glucose tolerance test. After that we move to 2 week appointments! That's crazy to me - being seen every 2 weeks already??! Argh!! It's going too fast -- we are hoping to have the upstairs of our house essentially remodeled in time for baby. New carpet and staircase should be in before the end of April, and painting done as well. After that new doors go up and updated light fixtures. I'm getting a little overwhelmed, but keep reminding myself I'm not moving, like I was with Oliver. That was ridiculous and I will *never* do it again. :)

Picture time! Since we already have all baby-essentials, (crib, stroller, car seat, etc.) I have felt a little detached from the arrival of this baby. Getting new carpet and paint is great but I would've wanted that either way. So I decided one thing to do was buy new bedding. I'm not going all out and getting a whole set, because I frankly will never use it all. I'm not a big crib bumper girl, and really never used a quilt/coverlet either. I am getting a "blankie" but plan to use it as such, for cuddles and nap times. Then I am getting a crib skirt, Circus fitted sheet from PBK and also bought an adorable fleece lion that I fell in love with. I can't wait to see it all together!

I also have to attach a picture of Jeremy snowblowing today - it was crazy for being in town. And nothing compared to some pictures I have seen of the country homes. They had cars literally buried in the snow.

Hope you all have a great rest of the week! Take care~jrm

02.26.09

Hello from the recovering Marquardt household! We have had a nasty week here dealing with Influenza A. This is the influenza that you get the shot to protect against, (and we got the shot!), except this strain was apparently not covered in the 3 that are in the vaccination. I'm not a huge fan of the vaccination to begin with, but I got it this year considering I was pregnant. WELL! Didn't do me a whole lot of good ~ most of my co-workers would say it made my symptoms not as severe, but I don't know if I believe that either, because I felt pretty miserable! Jeremy came down with it Wednesday night, I started Sunday night (while in PR for Parker's baptism), my dad started yesterday, and so far....Oliver is safe! :) We are recovering now, feeling mostly like we're dealing with head colds, but still the energy level is quite low. We've had lots of early bed times! I've been off of work all week, and will go back tomorrow. My doctor is gone tomorrow so it's the perfect opportunity to get back into work - should be a slow day.

These two pictures are hilarious! Pre-flu I was nesting up a storm ... painting, planning, organizing, you name it. This picture is nesting gone bad. I was cleaning up from painting, and in my OCD-ness I decided the brush needed a thorough cleaning. So I get out my fine-tooth comb and decided to make this brush just like brand new! Needless to say, it backfired. And Jeremy loved every second of it! Did he offer to help me clean up? NO....no, my husband ran and grabbed the camera. In his defense, he did help me clean up, after he had picked himself up off the floor. :)

The picture of Oliver shows how serious this child is about his tomato soup. Tomato-anything, really. He LOVES tomatoes, always has! Even as a baby, tomato chunks were one of the first things he ate. His spoon wasn't working for him at the end of the bowl, so he politely asked for a straw, and we obliged. :)

Hope you're all staying healthy! WASH, WASH, WASH those hands!!

02.14.09

YYYYYYYYYYY

Happy Valentine's Day!

YYYYYYYYYYY

Sending lots of love your way! I hope you feel loved today. :) Jeremy and I went out on a real date last night! It was great - just dinner & a movie but it was good to have some alone time. Oliver, in his "Why?" stage, of course asked why we would go out on a date. After explaining first what a date was (!) we explained that we loved eachother and so we wanted to spend some time together. At various points throughout the day, toys were getting married & going out on dates "because they love eachother." It was pretty cute!

The week went by uneventfully, with only me being sick this week. My sinus infection came to a head Monday, and most of the day was spent in bed, which was good considering it was a snow/ice day! I'm feeling much better now and glad it's over. I'm now just about 22 weeks along and baby has been doing great. The only thing that's really starting to be noticed is the lack of sleeping, and it's really okay if I go to bed early enough. But sleep from 4:30 a.m. on is hard to come by. Baby is active, but still no where near as active as Oliver was! But he does let me know, everyday, that he's there. And I do cherish those movements ... they are by far one of my most favorite parts of being pregnant.

And now pictures! The first few are of our trip to Fargo with Arlyn & Donna at the hotel. We had a great time. I was not so sure about the water! So I mostly watched, but we still had a great time. Then the rest of the pictures are from today - which was hilarious!! Oliver has gotten into a "karate" phase and took it out on Jeremy for most of the morning. I love the intensity in his face -- he was being pretty serious! Good times....

02.08.09

Finally some ultrasound pictures! These are over a week old, my apologies, but I got to a scanner as quickly as I could. As you can tell by the second picture, this boy is NOT modest!! haha Both Jeremy and I commented on how glad we were that we decided to find out the sex because we both figured it out pretty quick, even without her explaining things to us. I have gotten several questions about names now that we know the sex. I have to admit, we kinda don't have a clue. We always have girl names picked out, and we never can agree on a boy's name. However, we also decided that the name is one thing we're keeping quiet. :) Gotta keep something a surprise!! But at this point, we are WIDE OPEN for suggestions!! So send 'em on...

This week was good, but tough with illnesses. We did end up taking all the kids to the pool last weekend, and we had a wonderful time. Unfortunately Oliver got quite sick while we were there, with his fever reaching about 103 in the middle of the night - which meant Jer and I were up past 3 a.m. keeping watch over him!! His fever finally broke, and all kids were up by 6:30 ready to swim...all kids except us old kids of course. Oi...that was an early morning. But we had fun nonetheless and brought Oliver in to the doctor Tuesday, as his fevers had now been going for 7 days. He did have a left ear infection (which I found odd considering he never complained of ear pain, nor did he ever touch it, etc.) and also some kind of bronchial/sinus infection. I think within 24 hours of being on antibiotics he was brand new again! That's when *I* started coughing/sneezing/body aches! :) Such is life as a mother, no?? Jeremy asked if I had washed my hands enough, in a joking way, and of course I did!! But you can only get coughed in your face and sneezed on so many times before it finally finds a way in. I am on the mend but it does feel slow going. Days are good, nights are still tough.

We also had the chance to meet Donna and Arlyn in Fargo for a night and get to spend some time with them. We had a wonderful time, this time with a healthy Oliver. I have some good pictures of that trip so I will post them later in the week.

Here's to a happy Sunday, and the start of great week! Blessings to all~

01.30.09

We had a wonderful ultrasound! And as you can tell by the above statement, we did decide to find out the sex and share that news. I know many were thinking that I was hoping for a girl, but truly I can say with 100% sincerity I did not have a preference. I simply want ... a baby! And the smile that I witnessed on Jeremy's face when he was told he was getting another boy was enough to make me giddy for the rest of the day. He is such a great father and he gets to do all over again, with another boy. I'm very excited for him, and for our family!!

Just like Oliver, this child was NOT modest!! I had an ultrasound tech whom I know fairly well perform the ultrasound, and I told her that if she knew 100% what sex the baby was, then we'd want to know. (Jeremy's wanted to know the whole time, I've been the one unsure.) And she literally put the transducer (the wand they hold) on my stomach and then immediately took it off and said "Do you want to know?" I laughed out loud and said "Really? Already?? You know?!" "Yes. Do you want to know?!" I knew then it was a boy!! He is lying breech/transverse (sideways) and basically showed us his stuff through the whole ultrasound!! It got kinda comical at the end, him continuing with his show for all to see. We got some great shots, but she had to work at it since he was showing us his back the whole time. Everything checked out great - 10 fingers, 10 toes. :) When she was measuring the head circumference, she commented on how she could already see hair on his head!! Also, with the measurements our "guessing dates" were pretty accurate, by about 3 days. So the due date remains .... June 21st.

The position he is lying in also tells me why I have been feeling very few movements, or rather the movements I have been feeling having been ... well, weird. He is lying sideways, facing my back. His spine is to my belly button. So whenever he moves, he's punching/kicking my back and lower pelvis. This feels *weird* sometimes!! That's the only way to describe it. It also explains why I have had so little movement in the front of my belly. Jeremy and others haven't been able to feel much movement either, and that's because all of baby's movements are to my back.

To say I'm excited is an understatement. I have waited for this baby for so long and the thought of getting to be a mommy to a little baby boy all over again just had me grinning from ear to ear all day. My cheeks literally started hurting at the end of the day, and my coworkers just laughed at my mood. I am elated.

I do not have a scanner, so as soon as I figure out a decent way to get the ultrasound pics on here, I will.

Oliver continues with his cough/fever, and the last 2 nights have been a bit rough. He seems to be sleeping comfortably now though, so I'm hoping tonight goes better.

And now, we ND folks are in a blizzard watch!! Really?! REALLY!!! I feel so bad because we are supposed to be taking Kyla and Carter to a hotel tomorrow night for a day/night of pizza, movies, and swimming. I hope/pray we can still go through with it.

Alright, gotta get to bed. Many prayers will be said tonight of praise and thanksgiving for our healthy, growing, adorable, and much loved BABY BOY. :)

01.28.09

Happy Wednesday!

Just as I typed the title for this post, "01.28.09" it became aware to me that today is the one year anniversary of us finding out we lost our pregnancy, our baby, last year. One whole year has gone by. I have to say sometimes it felt like time would never pass, and sometimes it felt like it had gone by way too fast! A lot of growth in a year, and a lot of changes! I am surprised that I didn't even realize this day had come. My day went by, as it always does, and never once did I think about it. Until right now - and I think that's okay. I'll never forget the hope I held for that baby, but I can't wait for this baby either!

So today I am about 19 weeks 3 days, give or take a few days (weeks?). The month that we conceived this baby was messed up, and dates are off somewhere. Basically ~ long story in a nutshell ~ (and also TMI for any males reading out there!) ~ I could tell I had not been ovulating for about 2 months. I'll spare the details - but I knew. I had a blood test to confirm it, and yep, no ovulation had occurred. So basically the game then is to wait for your period, or cycle day 35, whichever comes first. If you get to day 35, we'll give you a medicine to bring on your period. BUT...you have to take a pregnancy test first, to confirm. Day 35 came for me, and so I took a pregnancy test so I could get my prescription. It was 6:30 in the morning. And I SCREAMED out loud after I saw the test results. Jeremy comes running in and I handed him the test and told him to tell me what he saw. He said, without hesitating, "I see two lines. What does that mean??" We were pregnant!

We just took a jab at possible dates and then went from there. My official ultrasound is Friday! I can't believe it's already this Friday. So we will have a "for sure" due date then, and I will be sure to pass that info on. Right now the due date is June 21, and if the ultrasound dates differ by 10-14 days, then we will change it to the ultrasound dates. If it is less than that, then June 21 it is. And, as for the question of the year...No, I don't know if we are finding out the sex yet, and no, I don't know if we're telling anybody!! :) We are most likely doing the "put it in an envelope for later" thing until we can make up our minds.

I feel like I have so much to say. I can't type fast enough.

This pregnancy has been so different from Oliver's. The first was -wow- hello belly! That thing grew with force and fervor like never before. haha I could not believe how quickly I started showing! Also, with Oliver I was so over-involved, and I don't know if that's a good or bad thing, I just realize now it is a typical thing for a first time mom. With this pregnancy, cramps come and go, pains come and go, movements come and go, and life goes on!! Dishes need to be done, laundry needs to get folded, and I find myself losing these weeks so quickly. I don't think I need to document quite everything I did last time, but something would be good!! The morning sickness with this child was brutal. And just like with Ollie, it wasn't really in the morning, but rather from 6 pm and on. I was totally useless for about 12 weeks. And it wasn't heartburn, or back pain like last time, just extreme fatigue and nausea. Then, like a light switch at around 13 weeks, it was done! I noticed one day I felt better, and the good days just never stopped coming. Since then I've been doing very well! So well that I get scared sometimes ~ should it be like this? Is it just because I'm so busy that I don't have time to think about all the symptoms? I am tired - but I have a very energetic 3-year old to chase after! That's just par for the course. But really I can't complain, this pregnancy has been easy. And baby's movements are much different than last time too. Softer - quieter - less often, but still there everyday. Oliver was always trying to break out of my tummy. :)

Speaking of Oliver, he is unfortunately sick tonight, so most of this afternoon was spent cuddling. And when Oliver wants to cuddle, I drop EVERYTHING and I cuddle!! The cuddle times are much too few and far between now to pass up any opportunity. But I do fear a long night ahead of us....

Okay, I've written a book and will be done. I never think I have anything to say until I start typing, and then it just kinda spews out of me. Thanks for caring and taking the time to read this far.

And lastly I leave you with three pictures; one is the first belly picture for this pregnancy! Excuse the camera, it's got issues, and apparently thought the candle behind me was the focus. And the second is of my big man playing his trombone. (Matt Franko would be proud!) He loves music, and there is a trombone solo line in "The Bear Necessities" from The Jungle Book that he has to play everytime. Melts my heart!... The third is of Mr. Cuteness himself, my new nephew, Parker Robert Spoonland. He was born last Wednesday, 1/21, and is the darn near cutest thing I have ever seen. We love him up quite a bit!

01.17.09

New Year ... New Baby ... New Nephew ... New Blog!

After many months off from writing on the blog I think I'm going to give it a go again. Maybe. :) I have different feelings about it this time than when I was pregnant with Oliver, but I think that's just part of the evolving process with being a mom, learning more about that and myself, and feeling different about pregnancy in general, especially after the miscarriage. That being said, I found this poem and that it was a great way to start out this "pregnancy journal" - as I now affectionately call Oliver's past pregnancy posts. (I still read them from time to time!)

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A Different Child

by Pandora MacMillian

People notice
There's a special glow around you.

You grow
Surrounded by love,
Never doubting you are wanted;
Only look at the pride and joy
In your mother and father's eyes.

And if sometimes
Between the smiles
There's a trace of tears,
One day
You'll understand.

You'll understand
There was once another child
A different child
Who was in their hopes and dreams.

That child will never outgrow the baby clothes
That child will never keep them up at night
In fact, that child will never be any trouble at all.

Except sometimes, in a silent moment,
When mother and father miss so much
That different child.

May hope and love wrap you warmly
And may you learn the lesson forever
How infinitely precious
How infinitely fragile
Is this life on earth.

One day, as a young man or woman
You may see another mother's tears
Another father's silent grief
Then you, and you alone
Will understand
And offer the greatest comfort.

When all hope seems lost,
You will tell them
With great compassion,
"I know how you feel.
I'm only here
Because my mother tried again."