28 Weeks

Welcome to the 3rd trimester! Good grief - we've got 12 weeks to go!! I had my (yet another) ultrasound on Friday, and everything is looking great!! Cathy is in town visiting us, and she got a sneak peek of the baby too. :) They even gave us some more 4-D photos - I love these!

This is my *favorite* - Baby is yawning

Snuggled up to the umbilical cord

Baby is moving around a lot and at all different times of the day. Obviously Baby is growing quite a bit and tends to protest with lots of kicks if I lay too far over on my side and squish things up too much inside. Hee hee!

I get to take my glucose test next week which is always fun (not). Hopefully I'll pass that test without any problems! I can't bear having to restrict my diet due to gestational diabetes - especially with the baking blog!

Here are my 28 week photos!

Diaper Daze

I think, no hope, Caiden might be getting close to being interested in potty training. I think this because of his diaper antics of the last couple days. Allow me to elaborate. Yesterday morning, after he'd been awake and chattering for a little while, I went into his room to get him up and ready for the day. I laid him down on the changing table and proceeded to undo his jammies (a snap-up long sleeve/long pants onesie) to get to his diaper. Imagine my utter surprise to discover there was in fact NO DIAPER on his boy bits! I was literally speechless for a few seconds while my sleep addled brain tried to process what on earth was going on here. How could he possibly be dry AND missing a diaper first thing in the morning!? My mind was truly boggled. I asked him what happened to his diaper and he just grinned back at me from behind his pacifier. Finally, I had the presence of mind to open up the rest of his jammies where upon I discovered a partially unfastened (and very wet) diaper hanging out down the side of his leg. SOMEhow, this little jokester managed to unfasten one side of the diaper while he was waiting for me to come and get him!

As for the most recent escapade, Mr. Man was vociferously fighting his nap this afternoon. About 20 min after I had laid him down, I heard a chorus of "uh-ohs" floating down the stairs from his room. I went upstairs to investigate...and got there just in time! Sneaky Caiden managed to shimmy off his jeans and was in the process of unfastening his diaper!! I don't know where this new found obsession with the diaper is coming from. But I think it might be a good time to start talking about the potty and introducing him to the pint sized toilet. :)

Mother's Day '10

There appears to be a disturbing trend setting in for me for Mother's Day - this is the 2nd year in a row that I was sick. :( Fortunately, I was feeling better by the afternoon and got to enjoy some nice weather with my boys.

The day before we drove out to Snoqualmie and visited the train museum. We took advantage of their Mother's Day promotion, and I enjoyed a free ride on account of being a mom. Woo!! It was fun to take Caiden on his very first train ride! The train cars were a various conglomeration of restored cars from decades past. It was a nice scenic ride that went first to North Bend and then backtracked through Snoqualmie and out to the falls. It was pretty cool getting to see the falls from the other side!! All in all, it was about a 60 minute round trip. It would have been fun to spend more time in town, but we were cutting it close for Caiden's nap, plus I wasn't feeling great, so we hustled back home.

Getting Ready to Start Our Journey

Backside View of the Inn and Falls

Overall, it was a fairly relaxing weekend and pleasant end to an otherwise rough week. Hopefully next year I will be 100% healthy and able to enjoy the day properly! :)

Church Going Folks

As Caiden is getting older, B and I both realized that we'd like to provide him with some additional moral structure, and we also strongly felt the need make some connections within a community. It had been quite some time since we'd gone to church regularly, and we recognized that finding a church we both liked could fill both of these needs. So after lots of discussion and lots of investigating, we decided to join Northlake Unitarian Universalist Church in Kirkland. This type of church is quite different from the denominations in which we were each raised, but we found it offered an excellent common ground for our respective beliefs. What we like best about worshiping at UU is that we are given the ability and freedom to continue practicing our beliefs without struggling against various elements of doctrines that we can't find peace with. One church member described our congregation best when he said we are a people of  "diverse beliefs with shared values." The other thing we really appreciate about this church is how extremely friendly and welcoming everyone is. We all wear name tags, and there is "coffee and conversation" after service every week so that we can continue to get to know one another. As we were getting to know people, one of the most common topics of conversation was "what religion did you grow up in?" While there are a few folks who were raised UU, the vast majority of us are from a variety of backgrounds.

We also participated in the children dedication service that took place on Mother's Day (well, I was home recovering while B and Caiden participated). The dedication is where the congregation is asked to assist in leading and nurturing Caiden (and other children) in spiritual growth. Here are a couple pictures from the dedication service.

Rough Week for All

It's been a tough week for our little family - especially Caiden. On Monday morning, he woke up and promptly emptied the contents of his tummy. We weren't entirely sure what to make of it, and since he was acting pretty much like himself, we thought it might've been a one-off thing. Boy were we wrong! As the day progressed, the poor little guy couldn't keep anything down. Not even water. He and I spent the day snuggling in bed or on the couch and watching Sesame Street (thank heavens for on-demand programming!). By 6pm, he finally stopped vomiting, but per nurse's orders, we had to restrict his water intake for the next 4 hours. If he could go 4 hours without throwing up, we could start giving him water 1 tsp at a time every 15 minutes. Can I just tell you how heartbreaking it is listening to your child beg for water and having to tell him no?! At least we could let him suck on some ice cubes which helped a little bit. By 10pm we were finally able to start the teaspoons, and he was so good about waiting the 15 min increments. We had to do that for four more hours before we could increase it to a whopping 2 tsp of water. B and I took shifts in the overnight hours, and Caiden finally got in 3 hours of solid sleep between 4 and 7am. I opted to crash on the floor in a makeshift bed of pillows and got some much needed rest myself.

By morning, he was able to drink as much water as he wanted and we started giving him a little bit of solid food. B worked from home that day and let me get some extra rest in the morning. When I came downstairs, I saw Caiden sitting in his little camp chair wearing a fleece over his jammies and his blanket was wrapped around his legs. He looked like a worn out little old man sitting there with his bowl of oatmeal - I felt so sorry for him. But at the same time so relieved to see him eating a little bit.

He and I spent the day hanging out on the couch or in his room. We watched lots more Sesame Street (He has watched more TV this week than he has in his life! But I believe concern over screen time goes out the window when you're sick. This was a special treat for him to enjoy.) while he snacked on crackers. I could tell he was feeling achy and icky and he was pretty listless. He wanted to be carried everywhere and would just start moaning/crying on the couch throughout the afternoon. After he got some ibuprofen in him, he started showing a few signs of his old self which was so good to see. Not long after, he had his bath and got settled into bed for a much better night's sleep.

Wednesday was mostly a repeat of Tuesday. He started eating a little more and showed a bit more interest in his toys, but he still preferred to hang out on the couch. I think the bug was starting to move into his intestines and causing him lots of gas and discomfort. He had some good naps and another good night's sleep, but boy oh boy did we wake up to an explosive mess today!

He is definitely more perky and animated today, but he seems to have definitely moved on to the runs. All of his bedding and a couple stuffed animals went thru the wash this morning. Caiden got to have the exceptionally rare morning bath to get him all cleaned off. And man, did his room ever stink to high heaven!!! We did manage to get out of the house today and attended his weekly music class. I think the change of scenery did him good, but he was more than ready for a nap by the time we got back home. He is snoozing as I type this, and I hope it's a good long nap cuz he needs it,

I tell ya, caring for a little one who is so sick is exhausting work. But at the same time I don't even give it a second thought. I have been consumed with doing whatever I can to make him comfortable and happy. I've somehow been able to not worry about getting various chores done or upset about not getting out of the house to do grocery shopping and the like. Sure, our dinners have started to suffer for it, but I know that this won't last forever, and we'll be able to get back on track soon enough. And I do enjoy the extra cuddle time it affords me with Caiden. He would just curl up next to me on the couch and rest his head on me, or he would ask to go upstairs and rock together. It's easy to forget about the mundane every day stuff when all you want to do is help your little guy feel better.

So that's what's been going on here this week. Fingers crossed that B and I don't succumb to this thing next!!

24 Weeks

Good grief - where is the time going?! I swear I just posted the 20 week update a few days ago. Not too many drastic changes compared to the 20 week update...aside from a slight uptick in the panic factor that we're now down to 16 weeks. Hee?

Actually, there have been two exciting developments to highlight!

1) B can finally feel the baby move. And Baby is definitely moving a lot! Sometimes you can actually see my belly moving.
2) Caiden is starting to understand there is a baby in mama's tummy. He likes to say hi, bye and night night to Baby, and I even got him to kiss the belly once. It is just adorable!

My sleeping habits are definitely changing. I can get a good 4-5 hour chunk of sleep in before I am suddenly awake for no apparent reason. I then wind up tossing and turning and dozing for the remainder of the wee hours of the morning. I have also noticed the heartburn is definitely kicking in. *sigh* Chocolate seems to be a significant contributor.

I did have my 24 week ultrasound which went really well. :) Baby is estimated to way 1.5lbs now. We got some AWESOME photos this time around, and a few in 4-D!!! Seeing the baby like that kicks the crap out of the more standard photos. Wouldn't you agree? :)

That's all I've got to report for now!! :)