Odds and Ends

I missed my 15 week update, so I'll just pick up with 16 weeks on Thursday. Friday Luke and I headed to Silver Spring to pick up some cookies made by Carla Hall from Top Chef. I always watch Top Chef and Carla was one of my favorite contestants, and I saw she was starting a new venture with cookies. I had told myself she wouldn't be there, but we got there and out she came from the kitchen! Our order wasn't ready, so she invited me into the kitchen while her assistant was packing my order up. It was so exciting! Probably the closest I've come to meeting a celebrity. She took a picture with Luke and gave him a big chocolate chip cookie :) Friday night the three of us went to dinner at Outback and then dropped the baby off with my Mom and Tommy and I went to see Limitless.


Saturday my sisters and I had tickets to see Jo Koy (from Chelsea Lately) at the DC Improv. For Christmas instead of getting each other gifts we just bought tickets to a show. Also, Carrie's birthday is this Saturday, so it was kind of a birthday outing, too. We had dinner at Firefly and headed over to the Improv. Jo Koy was so funny. Probably my favorite comedian I've ever seen.

notice our photo bomber in the background :)

Sunday we just chilled around the house and then went to Red Robin for dinner. I was craving it badly and we wanted to go out to dinner because Tommy left yesterday morning for training in North Carolina until late Friday night :( I honestly think Luke can tell his Dad is gone. He's been acting kind of strange, especially in the evenings. Last night we went to Outback for Lynsi's birthday with a big group of friends who Luke is very comfortable with and he didn't say one word the WHOLE time and was very clingy.

Luke is saying a new word pretty much every day. He knows some new animal sounds, including an "angry cat" which is a hilarious "hissssss" noise. Thanks Daddy.

his first time in flip flops! We were trying on his new shorts and flip flops :)

Last night I spiked his hair like this before we went to Outback and he found a comb and brushed it all down :)


And sweet baby Calla after Luke kept messing with her hood. I love this child.

Yay!

Turns out our visit with the Hock's is on my good memory card! So, here are a few pics.
I think Luke's going in for a hug in this one.

And then he went in for the ninny steal

He loves pretty Elaine

Proud Daddy

doesn't he look cute with a tiny newborn? :) Can't wait!!



Luke did something for the first time EVER yesterday... fell asleep in his highchair!! Tommy had his first softball practice yesterday and it totally messed with Luke's nap. So, this was around 4:00 and Luke had only slept for about 20 minutes all day. I gave him a snack and walked in the living room for a minute, came back and found him zonked out!

Update With No Pictures :(

My memory card has decided to crap out on me. It's just not readable anymore. So, all of my pictures from last week are gone. Does anybody know how to recover pictures from a corrupt memory card? I found a website that had software to do it, but it was $40.00. I don't really think that's worth it to just get last week's pics off.

So, to recap with no pictures, last Sunday was my cousin Katie's bridal shower at the Royal Tea Room in La Plata. It was so nice and we had a great time with family and friends and Luke was such a sweetie. Katie is getting married in the Outer Banks, NC on April 16th. We're spending the week after her wedding relaxing in Corolla.

I also lost pictures of my little leprechaun and our visit with Ryan, Elaine, Caleb, and the newest Hockstar Jacob on Thursday. We brought over pizza and visited with the Hocks and snuggly Jake who is so sweet!

Finally, the most exciting part of this post (for me, anyways) is Luke hasn't had a pacifier since Friday morning! Three whole days! Actually... I guess that's only partially true. I cut the tip off the pacifier and told him it was broken. A couple times on Friday I let him have the broken pacifier to show him that his "ninny" was here, it was just broken. But, for Saturday and Sunday he hasn't had one AT ALL. When he asks for it (which is often... and over and over), we just tell him that it's broken or it's for babies, and I tell him to say "bye bye ninny." I'm really happy to hopefully be off the ninny for good because I don't like being dependent on a little green piece of rubber!

I'll be back later this week with a 15 week update! Hope you all had a great weekend!

14 Weeks

Your Baby:

• Is about the size of your fist, unless you have giant man-hands or something, so maybe I should just compare it to a peach instead.
• Has a strong, whoosh-whooshy heartbeat that can usually be found pretty easily now with a doppler. It’s much faster than yours (between 120 – 160 bpm), and sounds vaguely like a washing machine.
• Has probably started sucking its thumb.

You:

• Should be noticing a definite decrease in some of the more crap symptoms from the first trimester, although fatigue and nausea do tend to stick around a little longer for some women.
• Probably aren’t as bothered by breast tenderness anymore, although your boobs will continue to grow in size in the weeks and months ahead. Reassess your bra size periodically and make sure you aren’t mashing the girls into something you’ve outgrown.
• If this is your first pregnancy, you may FINALLY feel like you’re starting to “show” with a little belly pooch.
• If this is your second (or third or fourth or etc.) pregnancy, you’ve probably been in maternity clothes or been rubber-banding your pants for a few weeks already, so pffft.

 

Another fun week in pregnancy land.  Can I just say I can’t wait for the best parts of pregnancy like finding out what the sex is and planning accordingly and those first flutters… That makes the desire to complain subside a little for me.  I just have a couple of important questions that I would like answered.  Why is my nose red like Rudolph?  Why am I growing a beard? 

This week has actually been better in the nausea department, but my insomnia has really reared its ugly head… as I sit typing this at 4:30 am. 

I know I complain, but I really am so happy right now and I know how very blessed we are to have another baby on the way and to see Luke be a big brother!

Hope you are all having a great week! 

And the Mother of the Year Award Goes To…

Yesterday morning when I was leaving for work I was holding Luke’s hand so he could walk down the stairs off the porch with me, but he kind of stumbled on the first step so I told him I was just going to carry him down the rest and I lifted him up just by his wrist (my other arm was full of stuff) and lifted him down the other four stairs or so.  I mean, I know that’s not the ideal way to pick up a child, but had no idea I could cause serious injury!  So, he was kind of fussy on the way to Bonnie’s.  When we got there I told her he was fussy, and when she got him out of his carseat he really started wailing.  Then it hit me.  I kind of moved his hand and wrist around and he started crying again.  I realized I had hurt him!  Tommy met up with me and we went to Civista and we had to wait a long time to be seen, but were only with a doctor for about a minute and she realized it was his elbow and popped it right back in.  He’s been perfectly fine ever since.  I know I will never ever be picking my child up like that again!  Not to swing him around, not for “one, two, three, whee,”  and certainly not to carry him down the stairs!!  I was just so shocked because it wasn’t rough, I didn’t grab him or snatch him.  I know it’s common, but it’s really sad, especially when it’s inflicted by Mommy!

So, here’s a video of him from yesterday showing that he’s all better.  Please excuse him talking with his mouth full.  He was happy with his crackers at that moment, and I pretty much let him do whatever he wanted all day yesterday :)  I’ll have to try to get a video of him saying pizza better.  It is absolutely my favorite word that he says.  He always whispers it, and it’s just like a p sound and then a lispy “zza.”  So cute.

Luke Update and 13 Weeks!

I thought that Luke was getting much better, but his doctor didn’t agree.  Tommy took him to his follow up appointment on Monday and she was not pleased with the amount of progress he had made with his breathing treatments since Thursday, so she prescribed him a new medication that she wants him to take morning and night for the next three months.  Right now we just have a nebulizer on rental, but we’re going to have to buy one to give him the twice daily treatments.  I don’t have all the information because it came secondhand from Tommy, but we have to take him back in a month for another follow up on the new medication.  He is doing great though and isn’t acting sick at all even though I can still hear a little congestion when he coughs.  Please just pray that he doesn’t have any serious or permanent respiratory issues!

Now, here’s what Alphamom has to say about week 13

Your Baby:

• Is about three inches long, the size of a jumbo shrimp, or a very small ramekin of tartar sauce.
• Has his or her own unique fingerprints already.
• Has intestines on the INSIDE of his or her body. (They start developing outside the body, in the umbilical cord, and then sort of…migrate up to their proper home around 13 weeks. I know. Biology is WEIRD, dude.)
• Will look less and less like a Big Giant Head and more and more proportionate as the next weeks tick by.

You:

• Are probably not puking anymore? But don’t freak out if you still are? I generally feel iffy until around week 16, although right now I’m only suffering from the occasional dry heave (on Tuesdays. Every damn Tuesday.) and have actual full days where I want to eat everything in sight because it’s all so gooooood.
• Are probably not as tired anymore? Unless you are me? I still can’t seem to get enough sleep or make it through the day without a catnap. Although maybe I am just very lazy.
• May start glowing soon, like everybody always talks about. The “glow” is actually just hormonal changes in your skin’s oil production, but it seems most people find it dewy and lovely instead of…ew, gross, oil.
• Your hair and nails might be changing as well — a lot of women stop shedding hair during their pregnancies, leading to very thick heads of hair that may also grow faster. Fingernails tend to get stronger and longer as well, which I can personally attest to BEING AWESOME.

I’m loving the move into the second trimester.  I feel like this pregnancy is really going by quickly.  This has probably been the sickest week yet for me and Luke just thinks it’s hilarious when I start gagging.  I think he thinks I’m just making a funny face and a funny noise so he’ll crack up and then imitate me.  I was sick with Luke until week 18, so I’m wondering if this is going to be a repeat performance.  I have definitely had less headaches though, and they bother me way more than getting sick, so I have to say overall this week has been way better.  And Em, I have definitely stepped up my water consumption and you were right, I probably wasn’t drinking as much as I should.  I had been slacking. 

I had a doctor’s appt. on Tuesday and got to hear the baby’s heartbeat for the first time!  It sounded very good and strong at 160 bpm. 

I’m going to try to get a video today of Luke doing and saying some of our favorite things… we’ll see how that goes :) 

Franzi's Shower

First, just a quick update on Luke's health. He's doing much better. We're still doing his breathing treatments, but his appetite is much better and his spirits are way up. He's acting like his normal self.



Yesterday we headed to my Aunt Mimmy's house for Jamie and Franzi's baby shower. Jamie is my cousin (Aunt Miriam's son), and Franzi is his beautiful wife. She came here from Germany as an au pair several years ago, met Jamie, fell in love, and the rest is history :)

Oh man, Mom! This is a girl party!


Poor baby Andrea... "why are they doing this to me??"

Luke sharing his balloons with Mary Beth

He LOVED their big dog, Jack. He kept pointing at him yelling DOG!

Aunt Mimmy and Luke

Proud Aunt Katie and Baby Andrea

Franzi had her sister Stefanie in Germany on Skype for most of the shower so she could be there with her. Stefanie is also due to have a baby VERY soon. I think within two weeks of Franzi.

Jamie making a strange face, which is very normal for him.


booties that Lynsi crocheted for me to give them. Little Converse sneakers!

Luke playing gift bingo with his cousin Isabelle.

We're so happy for you Jamie and Franzi! Congratulations on your beautiful growing family. Love you so much!

After the shower we went home and rested for a little while and then headed out to meet my fam at Sakura. It was Luke's first time and he LOVED it. He ate my whole bowl of soup/broth and loved when they set the grill on fire. He also lost his freaking mind when Tommy was catching shrimp in his mouth. He was laughing so hard and jerking back and forth like he was dancing kind of. It was hysterical. I'm so happy that he's feeling better.

That's about it for now. I'll be back later in the week for my 13 week update. 2nd trimester, here I come!

Update on Luke and 12 Weeks

We ended up going to the ER last night because Luke didn't sound any better after he had several nebulizer treatments and had a fever of 102.9. He had a chest x-ray and they determined that his lungs are clear and it's just an upper respiratory infection. So, I'm just monitoring his temperature and keeping up with the treatments. He seems to be in much better spirits today. Yesterday he was crying for no reason and getting really worked up and not able to calm down. Very unlike him. I feel much better knowing he's not in any "respiratory distress" and I think he'll be better in no time.

Here's what Alphamom has to say about week 12:
Your Baby:

• Is about two-and-a-half inches long. So still in the lemon/lime range. Comparison reruns! Sorry about that.
• Already has pretty much every structure, organ and system needed for life by this point. Everything will continue to develop and mature, but your baby really is a perfect little miniature human being.
• Reproductive organs are distinctly male or female. A 3D ultrasound could possibly make a pretty good guess at the sex now.
• Can officially be Bugged By You. Reflexes have developed, so if you push on your uterus, your baby will squirm and move in response. You can’t feel it, but it sure is fun to imagine getting flipped off by your fetus.

You:

• Are you feeling better? I hope you’re feeling better. I keep thinking I’m feeling better and then I’m not. And then I am again! And then I smell whatever it is that you’re eating over there and BLEH.
• Have a big-ass uterus now — too big to remain all low in your pelvis. It’ll sort of grow and migrate upwards during the second trimester. Pros: you won’t have to pee so much. Cons: your baby will better be able to land many, many karate chops to your internal organs.
• Are probably in some maternity clothes now, especially if this isn’t your first pregnancy and/or haven’t lost weight due to morning sickness. The whole waist-butt-thigh region is spreading, and it’s best to just go with it and be comfortable.

I've been feeling kind of blah and stressed out this week. I just feel tired and overwhelmed all the time. I have a pain in my back in the lower right side that I'm being a total baby about because I've never had back problems before. I've also woken up with a headache most mornings and sometimes can't get rid of it. I just can't wait for my favorite parts of pregnancy like my growing belly and feeling flutters and kicks.

I hope everyone is having a great week!

Sicky Boy

Poor Luke is not feeling so hot. Actually, we're all sick. I took Luke to the doctor yesterday and she said his ears were clear and his chest sounded good and said to just use saline drops and turn on his humidifier. He had a horrible night last night and I ended up bringing him in bed with us for a couple of hours until I couldn't take it anymore because he is a horrible bed companion! Now he's coughing alot, which he wasn't doing yesterday, and sounds very short of breath and wheezy. It sounds like it's taking alot of work just for him to breathe. I have a call in to his doctor's office because I don't want to end up at after hours care this weekend like we did last time we let it ride. Also, because I'm off all day today and don't want to wait until tomorrow when one of us will have to take off. I'll let you all know how everything works out!