Mommy and Me #10 - the vibrating chair

Our neighbor is awesome.  She works with special needs kids.  Her job mostly is to train them when they get communication devices and she works with the electronics and stuff.  But, she loves Sadie.

The other day, I came home from running errands and Brian and Sadie were nowhere to be found.  I figured they were probably next door visiting Cindy (she also has a fig tree that we're interested in).  I went over there, and they had Sadie sitting in this Homedics vibrating massage chair and she was loving it.

So, Cindy told us to take it home and "permanently" borrow it.

Okay, so maybe I had other motives for bringing a vibrating massage chair into my home when I'm 6 months pregnant... but Sadie still thinks it's fun!!

It is SO COMFORTABLE!!!

Hosted by Krystyn at Really, Are You Serious?

Bump Watch - 27 weeks

Alright!  As of yesterday I am 3 months away from baby...God willing.  I have a friend who is 39 weeks pregnant with her second baby.  Her first baby came early, so at this point, having gone PAST when the first one would have been born, she's really struggling!  And it's hot, and she just wants to be un-pregnant.  I'm glad Sadie came late, so I won't have that expectation! haha.  Although I will PRAISE GOD if this baby comes early.

It's crazy to think of my friends who had micro-preemies, whose babies were born as early as now (or even earlier).  Technology is amazing that it can help babies survive when they are born so early.  However, I plan on keeping this one in until the bitter end!

How far along?  27 weeks - my last week of my second trimester!!

Weight Gain?  I forgot to weigh myself this morning!!  I went to bed thinking I needed to remember to weigh myself in the morning...but then when I woke up I was hungry to the point that I felt sick (and I should weigh myself BEFORE I eat).  So, I forgot.  oops.

What's up with my Body?  When I sleep, sometimes my arms/hands go numb.  Only when I sleep on my side.  And it's only my top arm.  It's weird because I'll lay like that all night and be fine, then at one point I just can't anymore, my top arm goes numb.  I remember this happening when I was pregnant before, so I'm not worried...it's just annoying.

My skin is itchy, especially on my tummy.  Somebody told me that after not seeing me for 3 or 4 days, I looked bigger.  So, I must be growing and stretching and that's why my skin is itchy.

This baby is low, way lower than Sadie (I'll have some comparison pictures in weeks to come!), so he sits on my bladder.  Peeing becomes necessary immediately when I stand up otherwise it's painful...so weird.

Clothes: I got a new bra!!  It's crazy that this is the best thing that's happened to me all week, but seriously it's so comfortable and was totally worth the money!

Food Cravings?  I went to the grocery store today and walked out of there with $80 worth of groceries and 2/3 of it was produce.  Not to mention the watermelon that cost me $1.21!!  I think because it's so hot, fruits and veggies sound refreshing.  Maybe because they have more water in them?  Maybe because they're un-processed?  I don't know, I still crave some salt, some cereal, and some chocolate at certain times of the day...but mostly it's grapes and cantaloupe and watermelon that I want.

Sleeping:  The last couple of nights I've slept like a ROCK.  Apparently last night there was a storm.  My neighbor texted me this morning to say she was up all night because the thunder scared the dog.  I had NO.IDEA there was a storm, let alone thunder and lightning!  Wow.  That's some good sleep... without numb hands.

Gender? It's a boy!  You can read about our ultrasound appointment and see pictures if you go to this post here.

Names? We finally found a name that we both like.  But then I told my Mother in law, and she brought up some good points we hadn't thought about concerning this name... so we still like it (she can call him Bill or Buddy or Mac...points for the obscure song reference?), but we're open to the possibility that there might be a better name still out there.  I'm open to suggestions, people!!

Actually the other night, I pulled up a name website and just read through lists and lists of names while Brian shot down EVERY SINGLE ONE.  ugh.

Best moment of the week: Sadie is learning to pee on the potty!!  Today is our third day of operation pee in the potty, and Sadie is 3 for 3.  I think she is starting to understand that when she sits on the potty she is supposed to pee.  I'm convinced that she knows how to hold it, so I'm hoping she's also learning how to release it on demand.  Either way, I'm sure we have a long road ahead of us and I'm not looking forward to her being out of diapers anytime soon.  But we've started the long road, and that's a big deal for us!

What I'm looking forward to: I'm actually looking forward to getting bigger.  Right now I'm pretty big, but I'm at that awkward in-between stage.  I'm ready for this boy to grow grow grow so he'll be big and fat and healthy when he's born!  This IS my last week of my second trimester, after all!!

How baby's growing: He's about the size of a head of cauliflower...which is funny because we have a head of cauliflower in our fridge and I know EXACTLY how big that is!!  He's establishing sleep cycles (sleeping now...will be awake and doing acrobatics later when I want to go to sleep!), and his brain is very active, even though his lungs are still very immature.  

Don't mind my wife beater...it's HOT outside!!

27 weeks

Hand Splints update

Sadie's hands were so open and relaxed tonight that I couldn't resist taking a picture...but just in case you haven't been following our progress with the hand splints, here's previous pictures.

June 1 - after wearing them for one day

June 9

July 1 - after wearing hand splints for 1 month

Check out that left hand!!!  (July 8)

Sadie's hands were so open tonight that we practiced sucking on her fingers...well, mostly she bit (which didn't feel that good, she decided), but it was a neat feeling to put them in her mouth!  She's always just had little fists and those were hard to get in there!  Maybe someday she'll be able to get her fingers in her mouth herself enough to

Mommy and Me #9 - Yuri the kitten

We brought home Sadie's kitten this week.  He's cute.  He's little.  He's crazy!!  If I had half the energy this little kitten has, I'd get so much done!!  His favorite thing is to run around in circles, chase his tail, pounce on things, attack things, and put everything in his mouth.  He is so curious and so brave, and his ultimate goal in life is to be best friends with Barney (our big, old man cat).  He follows Barney around, he tries to play with Barney's tail, he gets in Barney's face...and Barney is NOT having it.  

But Barnes is a nice cat, so he growls and hisses and meows at him...but he'd never hurt Yuri.  It's just so funny to watch (and narrate)!  They'll get used to each other, and once we get Yuri neutered, I think Barney will be more accepting of him.

We really want him to be Sadie's best friend.  And he's slowly getting used to her.  He'll at least walk to her, or sniff her (which he wouldn't do in the beginning...why is it that cats are instinctively afraid of toddlers???).  Today, Sadie was laying under her toy bar, where her toys hang down and she can bat at them and stuff, and Brian said he saw Yuri over there with her and he'd bat the toy and Sadie would get excited.  It was like they were playing together!!  Hopefully he'll be able to get more and more comfortable with her.

We've only had him for 4 days, so I'm sure he'll get more and more used to all our craziness.  Right now he's just still exploring...EVERYTHING.

Hosted by Krystyn at Really, Are You Serious?

Bump Watch - 26 weeks

I've been REALLY sick this week!  Who says only children don't like to share???  Brian sure did a good job of sharing his cold with me!  And it hit me HARD!  I couldn't figure out why I was so tired on Wednesday... then that evening it hit.  Thursday and Friday I was down for the count.  Brian was out of town and it was all I could do to make sure Sadie was fed and her diapers changed, because that was about all I could do.  Then last night I started feeling better and today, I'm still a little stuffed up, but I had enough energy to actually leave the house.

And that's why my Thursday bumpdate is coming on Sunday...sorry.

How far along?  26 weeks

Weight Gain?  I didn't weigh myself this week... I've sort of stopped weighing myself at home.  We'll see the midwife on Tuesday and see what their scale says from last month.  I'm hoping that all that walking and sweating in Texas, plus being sick last week will show on the scale!! haha

What's up with my Body?  My skin is srarting to get get really itchy, like its having to stratch more and more now.  Like right now I just want to scratch and scratch and scratch my belly!!  The weird thing is that the top of my belly (where it itches) is numb.  This, I think, is because of my belly button issue...it happened last time too.  

When I was born I had a herniated umbilical cord.  Not a big deal, but it required surgery when I was 2.  I have a little scar where they tucked it all in and you can feel where it was stapled.  This really scared me the first time I got pregnant... I had no idea how this part of my body would deal with stretching.  It did fine.  My belly button will never pop out, but there was a weird sort of bump where the staple was and then where the scar tissue had stretched out... and it was numb.  And itchy.

Getting up and down off the floor is tough.  Bending down to get something off the floor requires holding my breathe.  And carrying Sadie is awkward because my bump is in the way!!

Clothes: I'm back to this awkward stage in clothing.  My shirts fit me, but they're getting to be too short.  You can see in my picture below that this shirt is too short.  I have a few longer ones, but that means I'm going to have to do more laundry more frequently to keep those in rotation.  The good news is that I don't leave the house often, so it's not imperative that I always look presentable!!

Also, the ONE bra that actually fits me well and is comfortable... the underwire came out and is poking me whenever I wear it now.  But today I got a new bra, that will hopefully be just as comfortable and make it through the rest of this pregnancy and another.  Meanwhile, I'll be repairing my underwire.

Food Cravings?  These have subsided mostly and gone back to normal.  I still like cereal, but that's normal.  I've been eating a lot of fruit, but if I don't have some protein with it, I get a sugar crash pretty quickly!

Sleeping:  I've officially reached that point in the night where it's useless to lay there and be uncomfortable, so I get up and read for an hour or an hour and a half before going back to bed and sleeping for a couple more hours.  Luckily I'm reading a good book right now...but I have a feeling I'm going to go through quite a few books before this is over!!

Movement? I have a big boy in there that is a mover and a shaker!!  Sometimes his kicks are so hard they're distracting to whatever I'm doing!  Sometimes too I can easily see my tummy move when he kicks!  He's going to be wild, I think!

Gender? It's a boy!  You can read about our ultrasound appointment and see pictures if you go to this post here.

Names? We're still struggling with names.  Naming Sadie wasn't this hard!  I have my heart set on Jonah and Brian is dead set against it.  Instead he suggested Atherton. I told him that Atherton isn't even a real name!!  So... it's back to the drawing board for us, I guess.  Hopefully this kid will have a name by the time he's born!!

Best moment of the week: I made my own cleaning products this week!  It's been fun to use them!  However, I don't recommend buying squirt bottles from the dollar store...some work better than others! If you're interested in making these, check this link.  I made his 4 and then I found a couple of others that I made. 

What I'm looking forward to: I go back to work tomorrow...yes, my summer is over.  And I'm actually looking forward to it!!

How baby's growing: Baby's ears are developing and he can probably hear Mommy and Daddy talking.  He's also practicing breathing amniotic fluid and making sure his lungs work.  He's putting on more weight... Baby Center says a he weighs a little under 2 lbs, my baby probably does weigh 2 lbs!!  Also, his testicles are descending into his scrotum this week!  (yay boys)

I want you to know that I pulled my butt off the couch on Thursday to take this picture, so it's on track, even though my post isn't!  Don't judge me by my sick look... I actually felt a lot worse than I look in this picture!!

26 weeks

Mommy and Me #8 - The Potty Experiment

Last night I sat Sadie on the potty for the first time.  This is totally new for both of us...and probably a little premature for her development, but I'm excited and I figure it can't hurt!  We're going to start with sitting once in the late morning, and once in the evening before bedtime.  

Last night was maybe not the best night to start either, but like I said, I'm excited!  Sadie is cutting that last molar and a half.  Yes, you read that right her LAAAAASSSST molars are cutting through and it's been sort of a struggle all week.  She's in pain, so sitting her on the toilet for the first time only made her more upset. 

My goal is to keep her there for 5-15 minutes...she made it about 2 and a half before she started crying! Oh well, it was the first time.  We'll try again tomorrow (today).

I wasn't sure how well she'd sit on this, but she actually did okay

At certain times I didn't have to support her much at all

I think she might do better on a little potty where her feet can touch the floor, so we might try that next

Hosted by Krystyn at Really, Are You Serious?

The Hand Splints Experiment - 1 month

A month ago I posted pictures of Sadie's hands after 1 day of wearing her new hand splints, then what they looked like a week later. (You can find that post here.)

It's now been a month and I want to update everyone on her progress.

June 1 - after wearing them for one day

June 9

July 1 - after wearing hand splints for 1 month

I want to note in this last picture that, I've explained before, Sadie's spasticity is situational.  Right now she's working on those last molars and she's in quite a bit of pain.  She has been pretty tense the last week or so.  I tried my best to relax her before I took this picture (hence the smile), but I am going to say that maybe the teething has caused her not to advance as much as we'd like.  Still, some days are better than others...and today's not a great day.