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Friday Funk

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Friday Funk

Ok, 2 things today…

Last week I got a total “Mama Fails” award. The event I had been fearing and dreading finally happened. Lana fell off the changing dresser. Ugh!

I knew this was going to happen since she is now so squirmy and rolly when you put her up there, so I can’t believe I actually thought I was going to get away with what I did. I put her on there after she woke up that morning (i think it was tuesday last week. or maybe wednesday) to take her out of her sleep sack and change her diaper. And with “don’t walk away and leave her there alone” ringing in my head, I turned and walked over to the window to open the shades. I slid one side opened, checked to make sure she was still staying put, turned back to open the other side, and that’s when it happened.

Rustle, rustle, THUD!!

Oh my god, I about died. I turned around when I heard the rustling and saw her mid-fall, then landing smack on the hardwood floor. The poor thing sounded like a melon dropping onto the ground, and I almost threw up when it happened. Seeing her little body, still zipped up in her jammie sack heading face-first toward the floor was mortifying. I tried to reach out to stop her, but I was too far away.

I seriously wanted to cry. She rolled off the changing mat from her back, so that’s why she was falling face-first, but she must have been continuing the roll during the fall, because when I got to her she was on her back. But holy shit, that sound when she landed… I think it’s going to haunt me forever. It was this solid thud that reverberated to my core. And hers, obviously.

She started screaming instantly, and unfortunately so did Della, because she was standing right there with us. D said she was so upset because one of her Fruit Loops had gone under the dresser from which Lana had just fallen, which it had, but I know Lana’s fall scared the crap out of her too. These girls love each other to no end, and they get upset when the other does too.

I scooped her right up, not even considering the fact that that may not have been the smartest thing to do, and just held her as close as I could to try and calm her. She bawled for a good 5 minutes, but eventually I got both of them calmed down so we could get on with our morning.

I was terrified that I had given her a concussion or brain damage or something, so of course I looked up signs of a concussion in infants immediately. Thankfully her instant screaming was a good sign – she never lost consciousness, not even for a split second. Also, she had no bleeding out of any orifice, and she had only the tiniest bump on one side of her head that disappeared within the hour. I did speak with a nurse at her pediatrician’s office, and she confirmed that the fact that she cried immediately, had no bleeding or vomiting, had eaten fine since the fall, and was up and playing as usual were all great signs that nothing was wrong. She even said Lana was fine to take her morning nap, since she was getting sleepy by that point.

The nurse said the first 2 hours after an accident are the most critical time to watch out for any signs of trauma, and fortunately Lana exhibited none. I cannot even express how relieved I was. I still felt like the worst mother on Earth for allowing the fall to happen in the first place, but knowing that I hadn’t permanently and severely damaged my baby did help me breathe a little easier for the rest of that day.

So a word of advice – as soon as your baby starts moving, do NOT leave him/her on top of high places. I know that is the most obvious advice ever, but I just kept pushing and pushing my toe over that line figuring I’d never actually let it go so far that she would fall, but obviously I pushed it too far. If you’re worried that they’re going to fall, they probably will. So just keep them safe. I don’t want anyone else to ever have to hear that noise of their child crashing onto the floor from 3 feet up.

But on a happier note, I’m going out for a girls night tonight! Yippee!! I can’t wait. It’s Downtown Dining Week right now here in Milwaukee, so we’re trying out one of the restaurants on that list. It will be so much fun catching up with my girlfriends and having a few delicious cocktails on a nice spring night.

Have a great weekend, everyone! See you next week.

 

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Friday Funk

2 Friday Funks in a row?? Crazy. I must be on a roll over here. I’ll call this one the “No More Moo” edition, because I’ve been given the green light by Lana’s pediatrician to start weaning her from breast milk. Time to start shutting down the milk factory.

The reason for doing this is kind of a need mixed with a want. She NEEDS to start sleeping through the night again, and her doctor said weaning will absolutely help with that. I took her in the other night for her first sick check because she’s had this congestion and cough for months now, and I was afraid she might have an ear infection since she tugs on her left one all the time. Ears look perfect, the doctor said, but she said she still sounds a little croupy. Something in her upper respiratory system is definitely still bugging her, so she’s currently on a 5-day antibiotic just to try and kick whatever keeps running around in there.

But anyway, I was telling her how terrible Lana’s sleeping at night has gotten, and she was pretty surprised to hear that she almost always wakes up 2-3 times per night now. A complete sleep through is essentially nonexistent these days, which is really shitty for a 7 month old.

So after we discussed the decline in night sleeping and I asked about maybe stopping breastfeeding soon, her doctor said yes, let’s definitely start to wean her. That’s where the want part comes in.

I’m ready to be done nursing this time around. I don’t know if it’s the novelty wearing off earlier the second time around or maybe the fact that me having been home basically all of Lana’s life so far with her she’s just spent more time actually nursing than Della did since she was in daycare so much or what, but I’m pretty much over it. That “magical bond” between mother and nursing babe just isn’t that magical anymore.

As when Della was stopping breastfeeding, I would love to not have to worry about it over the summer. Taking my stupid hand pump to all-day events gets so old, and enduring the pain of engorgement when I’d rather just not have to think about it is getting annoying right now. Plus we need to get Lana to know that boobs are no longer an option in the middle of the night. That’s the worst part – as long as she continues to wake up inconsolable save for nursing, we’ll keep taking steps backward instead of forward in this process.

So enter Enfamil, the formula I’ve always dreaded due to its price tag. The act of giving my baby formula doesn’t bother me in the least; it’s paying for the crap when I know I can provide plenty of breast milk for free. But like I said, I’m willing to sacrifice the dollars for a few months this time to get my body freedom back. Selfish? Probably. But Mama needs her sanity too, thank you very much, and Lana will thrive just fine on formula for only a couple months. For when she turns 11 months, we’ll put her on whole milk anyway.

Day 1 of the weaning saga was yesterday, and it was an utter failure. The doctor said to begin by replacing the least important breast milk meals with formula until there is no more nursing, so we’re starting with the one she usually has between her now solid lunches and dinners. Yesterday I whipped up a 6 oz. bottle containing 4 oz. of breast milk and 2 oz. of formula, thinking that would be more than enough breast milk to mask whatever the foreign taste of formula is in there. Nope. She drank a couple good gulps, then refused the rest of it. Well shit. I even made a separate 1 oz. bottle of strictly formula, thinking maybe the breast milk was bad. Still refused. Double shit.

I was afraid of that. Della did the same thing when she stopped nursing, refusing formula. She was about a month and a half older than Lana is now, though, so I just pumped another month or 2 until she started whole milk. I’m not pumping for 4 more months this time, though, so we have to get this to work with Lana. Fortunately round 2 this afternoon went better. I made another 6 oz. bottle for her, but this time I used only 1 oz. of formula and 5 oz. of breast milk, and she drank the whole thing without hesitation. Much better.

My hope is that I can just keep upping the formula ratio in this afternoon bottle and her mid-morning one over the next week or so until those 2 are strictly formula. Then we’ll work on switching the morning wake-up feeding to formula, then lastly the bedtime feeding. The doctor said that’s the order of importance for the feedings to be breast milk. I may start transitioning the bedtime feeding to a mixed bottle sooner, though, so I can make it bigger. When she nurses I obviously have no idea how many ounces she’s taking, but her doctor said to give her a bigger bedtime bottle (at least 6 oz.) to help her stay satisfied through the night better. Makes sense to me. Let’s get this pony rolling.

I would love more than anything to have her nearly fully weaned in the next 3 weeks before we go to Colorado, but I won’t push it. I’ll try, but if I have to take the damn pump, I’ll take it. So wish us luck on this journey! Any and all easy weaning juju you can send our way will be much appreciated.

Speaking of Colorado, my sister had her baby today!!!! I could just poop I’m so excited for them. His name is Roan, and from what I’ve seen so far he is absolutely perfect. I simply cannot wait to hold this newest little Goonie nugget, and Della already knows she has a new baby cousin. She can even say Roan pretty well. I’m so happy we’ll get to meet him when he’s still so little. I just hope my sister and brother-in-law truly know what they’re signing up for when they invite us all to stay with them with a newborn in the house. Heh.

What else? Oh yeah – my race last weekend. Dudes, I kicked its ass!! I was hoping for under 27:00, secretly wishing for under 26:00, and I blew that thing out of the water. 25:11 was my time. BOOM to the OOM! 8:06 pace. I was floored. No way was I expecting a time like that, which is one of my fastest 5k times ever. Let alone after having 2 kids and just getting back to running a few weeks ago. It felt like a terrible run, too, because I started off way too fast trying to keep pace with a group of grade schoolers. Note – never EVER try to keep up with 7 year olds in a race. They’ll destroy you every time. So when I saw sub-25:00 on the score clock as I approached the finish line I was ecstatic.

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Then it was off to Miller Park that afternoon with great friends for the Kenny Chesney concert. Yahoo!! That was an absolute blast. We skipped the first couple opening acts and went in for Eric Church and Kenny, and we had so much fun. It turned out to be a gorgeous day, and we had a wonderful afternoon and night.

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I think that about wraps everything up for this week. Just another batch of random I wanted to write down before I forgot it all. We’re off to Madison on Sunday for my cousin’s wedding, which will be awesome. So you all have a great long weekend, thank you to those whom we remember in the name of this holiday, and I’ll talk to you later.

 

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Friday Funk

Haven’t seen one of these posts in a long time, eh? In fact, the last one was the one I wrote right after Lana was born; my 39 weeks pregnancy update.

But I wanted to get something posted since I haven’t for a while, yet all my thoughts are just kind of random right now. So let’s see… We’ll call this one the “Start of Summer Edition”.

Tomorrow is going to be a spectacular day. Bold prediction, no? But listen to the itinerary – in the morning I have Run the Bay, the 5k for which I’ve been training this past month or so. It’s the first one I’ve run in 2 years, the first and last time I did this same race. I’ve been pushing the girls in our new jogging stroller along the race route for my training runs, so hopefully when I do it alone tomorrow I’ll go faster. The other day I pushed them at a 9:07 pace, which made me pretty happy. If I can get in the lower 8 minutes range somewhere for my race pace that’d be awesome. I think my fastest race pace is just over an 8:00 mile, so I’ll consider anywhere close to that a success, 2 babies later.

stroller

Then tomorrow afternoon we’re going to the Kenny Chesney/Eric Church concert at Miller Park. Let the summer of music begin! It’s Kenny’s “No Shoes Nation” tour, and the next stop is Milwaukee. We’re going with friends, and this will be I think the 3rd Kenny show my girlfriend and I will have been to together. I can already hear the Coronas opening and the limes being squeezed…

What else? Oh, Lana has officially sprouted her first tooth. Excellent. Just what we need – something else to make her scream. However, she did sleep completely through the night last night for the first time in at least a month, so I’ll take that. If teeth = sleep for her, I’ll even spring for some dentures to fill her mouth.

Look who my bed partners are this morning – how could it not start well? Sorry the quality is so terrible. It was taken on my phone, which has a ridiculously bright flash, so I kept capturing their recoils instead of their cute little faces, but oh well. You can still tell who it is. Lana has switched positions, though, and is currently trying to squirm her way over to eat the computer. Attention diverting is in full effect right now.

bed

Della has started swim lessons at the gym, so we’re off to those later this morning. This will be her 3rd out of 7 sessions, and she said today she wants to jump in with the teacher and put her head all the way under the water. So far she’s been very hesitant to do so, but the other little girl in her class is a whirling dervish in the pool, which I think has prodded D on a little. I hope she does dunk under today, because I just want her totally comfortable with being in and around the water before we’re near any lakes this summer.

Oh yeah – there’s going to be a baby any day now too! No, not in this household, but in my sister’s. She and my brother-in-law are expecting their first, a little boy, sometime in the next week or so. She’s due next Saturday, but I have the feeling of tomorrow in my head. We shall see – I can’t wait to hear the news!

I think those were the main things running around upstairs this morning. Have a great weekend, everyone, and I’ll let you know how the race goes. Fingers crossed for a respectable finish!

 

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Friday Funk – 39 weeks (just a few days late)

So as you’ll remember, we’re out of comparison shots since Della was born at 38w6d. But here is what I looked like 2 Saturdays ago anyway, at exactly 39w pregnant with Dv2.0:

Then 2 Sundays ago, at 39w1d pregnant, this happened:

Welcome Lana Marie Rau!

Born Sunday, October 21, 2012, at 7:24 p.m.

7 lbs. 7 oz., 19.5″ long

100% perfect

We are absolutely thrilled to have another little girl, and this past week adjusting to a family of 4 has been great. Unfortunately Ryan had to go back to work today, but thankfully my mom is up for the week to help me adjust and catch up on sleep before I tackle 2 by myself. Della is an amazing big sister. She loves to give Lana (pronounced Lah-nuh) pets on the head (with all that hair!), pats on the back to help burp, and point out all her tiny little parts like ears, nose, fingers, and toes. Thank you, little Lana, for adding to our family. We love you so much!

Things may be quiet around the blog for a bit as I adjust to being a mama of 2, but don’t worry, I’ll pop back in when I can. After all, I know you’re now dying to see pictures of who Dv2.0 turned out to be. 😉

 

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Friday Funk – 38 weeks

Little late this morning. Did you think I was in labor? 😉

no, my arm isn’t broken. that was our attempt at a homemade wrist splint for this stupid carpal tunnel syndrome. i have since gotten a regular one at the store.

  • How far along?  38 weeks, 6 days
  • Total weight gain:  35.5 lbs. as of Wednesday morning. Um, up 4 lbs. since last week? So much for matching my weight gain of 33 lbs. with D. I just blew right by that one for some reason.
  • Maternity clothes?  Bottoms – definitely, now with the exception of some yoga and cooler weather pj pants (much to my surprise!). Tops – some, but I find I can still wear most of my regular shirts too, which is nice. And dresses and skirts are quite comfortable but are making less frequent appearances as the weather cools off.
  • Stretch marks?  Thankfully, no. I didn’t get any from D, so hopefully Dv2.0 doesn’t give me any either.
  • Sleep:  Terrible, plain and simple. I’ve now gotten to the point where I dread bedtime because I know it’s just not going to happen. Rolling over is a huge process, and I’m always sore all over when I wake up. Getting up to pee is still a nightly thing, and it has now progressed to multiple times a night. Add to all that the wonderful carpal tunnel syndrome that worsens when I lie down, and it’s just one big party at night.
  • Best moment this week:  Definitely our trip to Peoria last weekend – induction into my high school Athletic Hall of Fame, seeing old friends from grade school (yes, we had our 20 year grade school reunion last weekend too!), and spending some great time with family. It was a really nice trip. And we didn’t bring home a newborn, either, whew!
  • Miss anything?  Beer and wine. And a good, solid night’s sleep.
  • Movement:  Yes, since about week 16 I believe. Kicks have become all over – I can feel what I now think are feet kicking under my right ribs while simultaneously getting bumped by probably the head on the lower left/back side. Must be a long kid in there.
  • Cravings:  Nope.
  • Aversions:  Food, no. Smells, not nearly as bad as last time, fortunately. I just get sick of scents quickly and have to get rid of them completely.
  • Gender:  Not finding out.
  • Labor signs:  The Braxton Hicks contractions are starting to get stronger, so I have a feeling we’re getting close here.
  • Symptoms:  The usual suspects – SI pain, heartburn (thank you to my dad for a nighttime remedy though – 1/2 tsp. of baking soda dissolved in 1 c. of water. tastes terrible, but i’ve been able to stave off heartburn at night for the past 2 nights by drinking that concoction), pregnancy-induced carpal tunnel syndrome, general aches and pains all over as this kid continues to grow before hatching, and I have noticed a little swelling in my hands this past week. I told my doctor about it since I don’t see any anywhere else, and she said it’s totally normal. I think it’s definitely exacerbating the carpal tunnel, and maybe this water weight/fluid retention has contributed to that big jump in weight gain this week. At least that’s what I’m telling myself, because otherwise I have no idea from where 4 lbs. all of a sudden came.
  • Belly button in or out?  Almost out, but not quite. It’s kind of hooded, if that makes any sense. Gross, I know.
  • Wedding rings on or off?  On most days.
  • Looking forward to:  Well hmm. I guess finding out when this kid’s going to decide to make his/her appearance. I originally thought today would be the day, but I don’t think that’s going to pan out. I’ve had a couple people suggest Tuesday of next week, which is actually when I have my next doctor’s appointment scheduled, so we’ll see about that. If I don’t deliver by next Saturday, the 27th, which is my due date, I do have Halloween scheduled for an induction date. But honestly, I don’t feel quite ready to meet him/her yet (yeah, when are you ever fully ready, i know). So as much as I’m looking forward to dumping these painful symptoms, I kind of want the baby to stay in just a little longer. I think sometime next week would be ok. Then Ryan can finish painting the front closet too, ha!

Now here is our final comparison shot. I delivered D 6 days after this picture was taken, so we’ll see how many days after Dv2.0’s picture I deliver that one. Left side is me at 38w with D; right side is me at 38w1d with Dv2.0.

I may or may not have a weekly post for you next Friday, so I hope you have thoroughly enjoyed what might be our last pregnancy update chat. Wow, that sounds so weird to say!

 

 

 

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Friday Funk – 37 weeks

Tomorrow is exactly 2 weeks before my due date. Zoinks!!

i’m laughing at D in these pics, who was trying her hardest to photo bomb me. you’ll see in a minute…

  • How far along?  37 weeks, 6 days
  • Total weight gain:  31.5 lbs. as of Wednesday morning. Up exactly 1 lb. since last week.
  • Maternity clothes?  Bottoms – definitely, now with the exception of some yoga and cooler weather pj pants (much to my surprise!). Tops – some, but I find I can still wear most of my regular shirts too, which is nice. And dresses and skirts are quite comfortable but are making less frequent appearances as the weather cools off.
  • Stretch marks?  Thankfully, no. I didn’t get any from D, so hopefully Dv2.0 doesn’t give me any either.
  • Sleep:  Terrible, plain and simple. I’ve now gotten to the point where I dread bedtime because I know it’s just not going to happen. Rolling over is a huge process, and I’m always sore all over when I wake up. Getting up to pee is still a nightly thing, and it has now progressed to multiple times a night. But mainly it’s because of the stupid carpal tunnel syndrome I’ve developed this past month. Not a night goes by now where I don’t wake up to the stabbing pain.
  • Best moment this week:  As dumb as it sounds, I might have to say getting the entire house cleaned, including mopping all the floors. I just want it all done before Dv2.0 arrives, and knowing that it’s at least finished for this week before we head out of town for the weekend is a good feeling. Also, hearing that there has been little progression in the dilation department at my doctor’s appointment on Wednesday – another good sign for traveling this weekend.
  • Miss anything?  Beer and wine. And a good, solid night’s sleep.
  • Movement:  Yes, since about week 16 I believe. Kicks have become all over – I can feel what I now think are feet kicking under my right ribs while simultaneously getting bumped by probably the head on the lower left/back side. Must be a long kid in there.
  • Cravings:  In general, no, but when I get really hungry I want protein – meat, cheese, etc.
  • Aversions:  Food, no. Smells, not nearly as bad as last time, fortunately. I just get sick of scents quickly and have to get rid of them completely.
  • Gender:  Not finding out.
  • Labor signs:  No. Wait, are Braxton Hicks contractions considered a labor sign? If so, then yes, I’ve started having those (see below).
  • Symptoms:  Daily heartburn (yes, it switched to daily from nightly. awesome. and sometimes i can feel it come on as soon as i take a bite of something. hooray), SI pain (which, thankfully, has eased up on me a little these past few weeks), my hair isn’t shedding much when I wash/brush it, and I have some serious pregnancy brain. The Braxton Hicks also arrived in the past couple months. I started feeling my lower abdomen tighten (painlessly) every once in a while, and my doctor confirmed those are the BH again. Oh and let’s not forget the newest jerk to join the party – carpal tunnel syndrome. As much as I want this kid to stay in there a little while longer, I can’t WAIT for this particular pain to go away.
  • Belly button in or out?  Almost out, but not quite. Never went fully out with D, just a little crooked.
  • Wedding rings on or off?  On.
  • Looking forward to:  Making it down to Peoria and back this weekend without giving birth (hopefully!!!). It will be great to see family and some old grade school friends, and to eat Monical’s pizza and Avanti’s sandwiches. But just in case, the infant seat is installed in the car, the hospital bag is packed and in with our stuff for the weekend, and I even got my prenatal records and labs printed out from my doctor this week when I was in, just in case. I figured if I didn’t have any of that stuff with us when we go, I was sure to go into labor somewhere other than at home. Wish me luck!! (side note – i noticed on my chart for this week that my fundal height is only 36, which would put me measuring a week behind. might i get some extra time before baby comes??)

Now even I’m kind of baffled by this week’s comparison. I think I look much bigger in my shot from D than my shot from this one. Left is me 37w1d pregnant with D; right is me 37w exactly with Dv2.0. Maybe it’s just the angle or something. I think I look smaller overall now than with D, too – face, butt, arms (even though you can’t see them under my sweatshirt).

And just because she’s cute and was trying to wear my glasses upside down, here’s D in full photo bomb mode. And a different angle for your viewing enjoyment.

 

 

 

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Friday Funk – 36 weeks

Tomorrow is full term, and we all know what that means, right? This baby could now come AT ANY TIME! Oh dear lord.

  • How far along?  36 weeks, 6 days
  • Total weight gain:  30.5 lbs. as of yesterday morning. I think I may end up spot on the same 33 lb. weight gain I had with D after all.
  • Maternity clothes?  Bottoms – definitely, now with the exception of some yoga and cooler weather pj pants (much to my surprise!). Tops – some, but I find I can still wear most of my regular shirts too, which is nice. And dresses and skirts are quite comfortable but are making less frequent appearances as the weather cools off.
  • Stretch marks?  Thankfully, no. I didn’t get any from D, so hopefully Dv2.0 doesn’t give me any either.
  • Sleep:  Downright shitty. Rolling over is a huge process, and I’m always just sore all over when I wake up. Getting up to pee is still a nightly thing, and it has now progressed to multiple times a night. Remember that arm pain I mentioned last week too? Well it’s still there, and I finally figured out what it is. See below in my symptoms…
  • Best moment this week:  Spending last weekend down at my mom’s house with D was definitely wonderful. It was fun, relaxing, and filled with delicious food. It’s so hard for me to believe, though, that it was the last time D will be there as the only grandchild. Crazy. And another high point of this week was…are you ready for this? My pre-baby checklist is DONE!!! You have no idea how good it feels to look at that thing and see all 20 items crossed off. However, Dv2.0 (yes, i’m talking to you in there, oh ye who keeps nailing me in the ribs), that does NOT give you permission to come out now! I respectfully request (or order you as your mother, whichever you prefer) that you stay put until at least October 15. Anytime after October 20 would be much more ideal, but I’ll settle for anytime after the 15th as well.
  • Miss anything?  Beer and wine. And a good, solid night’s sleep.
  • Movement:  Yes, since about week 16 I believe. Kicks have become all over – I can feel what I now think are feet kicking under my right ribs while simultaneously getting bumped by probably the head on the lower left/back side. Must be a long kid in there.
  • Cravings:  In general, no, but when I get really hungry I want protein – meat, cheese, etc.
  • Aversions:  Food, no. Smells, not nearly as bad as last time, fortunately. I just get sick of scents quickly and have to get rid of them completely.
  • Gender:  Not finding out.
  • Labor signs:  No. Wait, are Braxton Hicks contractions considered a labor sign? If so, then yes, I’ve started having those (see below).
  • Symptoms:  Daily heartburn (yes, it switched to daily from nightly. awesome. and sometimes i can feel it come on as soon as i take a bite of something. hooray), SI pain (which, thankfully, has eased up on me a little these past few weeks), my hair isn’t shedding much when I wash/brush it, and I have some serious pregnancy brain. My stomach muscles have stopped tweaking as much, though, when I try to use my abs, so I’m just assuming that means they’ve gotten totally worn out. And the Braxton Hicks have arrived. I started feeling my lower abdomen tighten (painlessly) every once in a while within the past month or two, and my doctor confirmed those are the BH again. Let’s not forget the butt cheek cramps, either. They still come and go as they please. As for that weird arm thing I mentioned above, it’s pregnancy-induced carpal tunnel syndrome. Ta-da! And it’s worse at night because all of the water and fluid I’m retaining right now is able to spread out when I lie down, putting pressure on that nerve in there. I read, too, that whichever nerve it is that runs through the carpal tunnel affects your thumb, index, middle, and the thumb side of your ring fingers, plus the middle of your hand and up to your elbow in severe cases, and that is exactly what I have. Excellent. Just what I always wanted! To not be able to use my dominant hand when I wake up every day, hooray!! Fortunately it’s supposed to go away shortly after delivery, which it better. I have found that sleeping with my wrist and hand propped up on a pillow does help keep the pain away, but that’s so awkward and it rarely stays put.
  • Belly button in or out?  Definitely starting to bulge on the right side, but still not fully out. Never went fully out with D, just a little crooked, but it’s already farther out than how it went with her. Weird.
  • Wedding rings on or off?  On.
  • Looking forward to:  Well let’s see… This upcoming week is actually pretty busy. This afternoon we’re heading up to Parnell Tower outside Sheboygan to check out the beauty of the changing leaves. Tomorrow I’ll be watching the Badgers play in the afternoon (at home, not in Madison unfortunately). Sunday I’m having lunch with girlfriends, for which I can’t wait! Tuesday I have my last hair cut/color pre-baby, and Wednesday is my next doctor’s appointment. I am PRAYING that there is no further dilation by then, because next weekend is when we’re supposed to be going to Peoria for my high school Athletic Hall of Fame induction ceremony, one PHS event I definitely don’t want to miss. So if you were wondering why I chose October 15 as the mandatory stay-in-there-until date for Dv2.0, that’s why. That is the date a week from Monday, which would put us home from Peoria without a newborn in tow.

And yes, another week of side-by-sides. Left is me 36w1d pregnant with D; right is me 36w2d pregnant with Dv2.0. Let’s start taking bets – what do you guys think, boy or girl this time?