38 Weeks

Yours truly is 38 weeks today! Matt took this picture at a favorable angle the very first time, and to be quite honest, I don't think it does the size of my belly justice, but I am not complaining.  Nevertheless, here I am, ten minutes out of bed, fake smile and all...

I will be getting my hair fixed tomorrow, even though you can see that it really doesn't look too different from normal (and "banana blonde" might have been an exaggeration). The most embarrassing part about all of this is that I told the girl before she mixed the color, "You really can't screw it up - I'm not picky." Eat your words, Leah. Eat them. Lesson learned: tomorrow and from now on, I will be VERY, VERY, VERY specific about EXACTLY what I want.

Thankful: Day 22 [Things I'm Tempted to Complain About]

Thanks to waaaaaay too much caffeine yesterday (don't judge), I am up at 3:05 AM.  I should go back and add a label too all the posts written between the hours of 2AM and 5AM.  Chances are, I wouldn't have much of a blog if it were not for my insomnia.

Anyway, today I am choosing to be thankful for things that I am most often just tempted to complain about.  Isn't it amazing that even when we are totally blessed beyond blessed, we can still find the negative about things?  I will look on the dark side no more...

I am thankful for Matt's job.  I am thankful for the obvious things about it like the fact that we have food on the table and I can stay home with Henry and it requires no travel and is very flexible.  I am so spoiled for sure.  So spoiled that when, once in a blue moon, Matt has to be there early or stay "late" for a meeting, I manage to find a way to complain.  And while we're on the topic, Matt is pretty amazing when it comes to drawing work boundaries - even though I know he is incredibly busy and could easily work 20 hours a week more than he actually does.  He is so great to get off early so he can see and play with Henry.  He tries to wait till Henry wakes up in the morning to leave.  He gets off in the middle of the day if I have a Dr. appointment... or a hair highlight. :)  And, he's even taken Henry to work with him when I've been sick before.  Not only that, but he still makes time to workout (not as much as he'd like), to spend time with me, and to spend time with the Lord.  So, God forgive me, when I complain about this blessing of a job and blessing of a husband.

Since that was so long, I'll go with just one more.  Maybe tomorrow I will continue this theme.

Anyway, the other thing I will choose to be thankful for today is my pregnant body.  It's no secret that weighing almost 35 extra pounds is not really my idea of a good time.  I avoid cameras, wear black almost everyday, and try not to look in the mirror.  But, how often do I forget what my body is accomplishing with that weight?  I mean, first of all, I got pregnant. A gift in itself.  Then tack on the fact that my body is literally supporting a life.  I need to do a lot less grumbling and a lot more thanking.  (I'll have to remember this when I am breastfeeding too.  I am not one of those whose weight just "melts" off when I am nursing.  In fact, I'd say the opposite - that nursing 1, makes me hold onto about five more pounds and 2, makes me certifiably insane hormonally.)  So, with all that, I am thankful for extra blood, extra water, placenta, seven pounds of baby (Dr. estimate as of yesterday) in my uterus, and even the extra fat that comes along with all of it.

And, even though it's kind of scaring me right now, I am thankful for the fact that there is torrential downpour outside!  Always thankful for rain in Austin, Texas.

Not sure what happened?

I just went to check the latest on our baby name poll, and it looks like somehow the poll either started over or got erased or something?  Because last I checked (probably Friday), Sam was definitely in the lead and there had been at least 20 votes.  Now it's saying that only 9 have voted.  So thanks, blogger. N-O-T.

It does not matter anyway because we are now somewhat certain (I know I have said that at least two other times on here), that we DO have a name.  However, I am feeling hesitant to share it "just in case" something changes.  BUT it is most definitely the longest we've gone without changing our minds (approximately 48 hours).

I know you're all just DYING to know the name, and that you can't sleep at night not knowing, but you'll have to just hold out a little longer... till I feel like you've waited long enough.

And you're welcome for multiple posts in one day.

VOTE for a NAME!

Okay, friends, we are feeling desperate for a baby name.  When I'm asking my five year old nephew and my less than two year old son what we should name our child, it's bad.  It's worse when I start typing into Google, "What should I name my baby?"  Then I get routed to a site called "baby genie" and it literally just produces a random name for me.

So, if you'll direct your attention to the side of my blog, there is a poll with FIVE NAMES in no particular order. I made a poll last night on Baby Center, and the names on that poll were different (some were the same- oh, and one is spelled wrong, but it's out anyway).  Quite honestly, I don't love or hate any of these names more than the other.  Some of them Matt likes more than me and vis versa.  Our families seem to have strong opinions in opposite directions, so most likely, this poll won't get us any closer to a decision.  There's a chance that the name we give our child isn't even on this list. (Matt has been trying to make up his own names.)

Anyway, please vote, so we don't end up leaving the hospital with a baby named "Brother Gibson" or "Boy Gibson" or "Gibblet Gibson" (as Matt has been fondly referring to him against my will).

Oh and feel free to be brave and comment with your own potential name ideas.  We could have literally added five more to this list.

Thankful: Day 11 [Awkward Preggo Situations, Etc.]

One good thing about my insanely painful nerve pain: it leads to funny and awkward interactions in public.  I'm thankful for these situations because who doesn't love a good laugh?

I wish I could describe this nerve pain for you.  Let's suffice it to say that I can be walking along normally and all of the sudden I get shooting pains all the way down the front or back of my legs (that's femoral and sciatic nerves, respectively) which sometimes literally causes me to fall to the floor (if I am at home), and no that is not a dramatic overreaction.

Yesterday at Target, I was finished shopping, approaching the checkout counter, when this terrible pain struck me in both legs at once.  I literally had to stop in my tracks, I hunched over at the waist and was squirming, and I let out an "Ooooh... Ughhh!"  I then looked up at the sweet, young, innocent checker girl who had a look of fear in her eyes.  (I'm about 99% sure she thought I was having a contraction.)  Instead of setting the record straight, I just go, "Sorry about that."

It wasn't till a few seconds later that I realized how funny the interaction actually was.

Then I started imagining how fun it would be, if I was a better actress, to play pranks on people all the time.

Like, Matt's been dying for me to pretend like I'm not pregnant when someone asks me when I am due.  He wanted me to do it in the last pregnancy, and he still wants me to do it.  Just to act really offended and/or confused, and then say, "Oh, I'm not pregnant."

It would also be kind of fun to pull the "I'm in labor" trick on someone when I'm actually not, but then you have the whole "boy who cried wolf" thing, and that wouldn't be cool.

Now that I'm thinking about it, it WOULD be funny to pretend that my water broke.  It would have to be the perfect situation (Thanksgiving Dinner maybe?), but it would be awesome...

Anyway, this reminds me of one prank I did pull on Matt last pregnancy.  As you all know, I am a fan of epidurals.  As you may also know, my pain tolerance is low (EXCEPT WITH THE NERVE PAIN - I'M TELLING YOU THAT'S REAL), my drama level is high, and natural labor has never been a thought for me.  (I'm also thankful for the freedom to get an epidural.)  So sometime in the last few weeks of my last pregnancy, I decided to play a trick on Matt, and our conversation went something like this.

Leah: Hey babe, I've been praying about it, and I think that I want to go natural in childbirth.
Matt:  Really? (Like, with a half smile, trying to figure out if I am joking or not?)
Leah: (Continue in serious tone) Yeah, you know, I've been thinking, if I ever have to suffer physically for the gospel, natural labor would be really good training for that.  Also, God made our bodies to be able to handle this pain, so I think he just wants me to endure that.
Matt: (Face turns serious and he secretly wonders whether he or anyone else can make it out of the delivery room alive with me not on medication) "Okay. Wow."
Leah: (Can't take it any longer.) JUST KIDDING!
Both of us: laugh! hahahahaha  (And he probably called me a butthead or something of the sort.)

So there you have it day 11.  Thankful for humor, awkwardness, pranks, and the freedom to get an epidural!

Thankful: Day 9 [One Month Till Due Date]

I am thankful that today is November 9th.  My due date is December 9th.  Until about last week, I was pretty darn comfortable.  Then all of the sudden last week, I started waking up in the middle of the night, swelling, getting terrible sciatic pain like all the time, etc.

I finally feel pregnant and ready to meet this no-named bundle of joy that's been growing inside me for the last 8 months.

Here's to one month with a whole lot of stuff to do!

Thankful: Day 8 [Sneaky Surprises]

You may remember that I don't particularly love baby showers.  Of course, I've had to get over that in the last 3-5 years because lots of people around me are making babies.  I've gotten pretty good at GOING to baby showers, even HOSTING them.  But, I won't lie and say that I was sort of relieved when we found out baby #2 was a boy because that meant that a baby shower was pretty much entirely optional and/or not going to happen at all.  (Don't ask me why... I think I just don't like being the center of attention in those particular situations.)

Except it turns out that I have a few sneaky friends who love to celebrate things, even against my "no baby shower" will. You may remember Sally - who I would easily describe as both sneaky and celebratory.  (She is pregnant with her 3rd girl, by the way, and we are due about 3 weeks apart, which is almost the same exact timing between Henry and Lucy- Sally's 2nd.  Oh yeah she has a blog.)  I think I can pretty much blame Sally for what went down last night...

I showed up at what was supposed to be a low key girl's night (with 4 other girls) to celebrate baby #2 and much to my surprise, there are 12 other girls there!  Sneaky stinkers!  Fortunately, it was still low key, but you know, they gave me gifts and stuff... stuff I totally don't deserve when I stiff-arm baby showers like nobody's business.

In case you were wondering, my nose immediately started sweating.  My nose sweats when I feel nervous, surprised, insecure, embarrassed, etc.  I can't hide it.  However, in spite of the nose sweat, I still felt so very loved, and am so, so thankful for sweet, thoughtful friends who ignore my baby shower anxiety disorder (that's what I'm calling it for now).

And I guess as long as I am friends w/ Sally, I can't expect to get away without celebrating ALL of my babies!  (I never blogged about it, but she and some other friends did this last time too.)

uh oh, getting weepy

I would apologize that all of my posts are about pregnancy, but I wouldn't really be sorry, so that would be a dumb thing to do.  The short of it is that this is the easiest thing to talk to you about right now, and if I didn't write about easy things, then I probably wouldn't write enough to justify having a blog.  Glad you understand.

Anyway, I went out this weekend and bought these.  I almost started crying when I picked them up at the store.  Then I almost started crying when I showed them to Matt.  Clearly, the hormones are kicking in.  I got weepy at the end of my last pregnancy.  I should just be thankful that I haven't been weepy the whole time.

bling bling

Last pregnancy when my fingers started to swell toward the end, and I could no longer go all day wearing my wedding ring, I went out and bought a cubic zirconia ring in a larger size.  (You know, so I wouldn't feel like a teen mom - not that it would matter, but anyway.)

Well, we are back to that point in this pregnancy, but the thing is that the ring is so obviously fake that it's embarrassing. So I end up telling people (random strangers) that it's fake anyway.  It's actually serving the opposite purpose for which I originally bought it because instead of not feeling like a teen mom, I feel like a teen mom who's trying really hard (or maybe not hard enough) to look married and/or engaged.

Since my camera isn't so great, this picture really doesn't do it justice, but for your viewing pleasure...

For the record, I know that I have man hands. 

One, the "stone" is like kind of big - maybe equal to what a 2-3 karat diamond would look like.  Two, it's "gold" but the "gold" obviously leaves a green ring around my finger.  (And does anyone else besides me remember that Saved By the Bell episode where the class rings did that to them?)  Three, just trust me, if you saw it in person you'd laugh.

explanation and other updates that I know you're concerned about

Two posts in one day.  It's like the more I talk to you, the more I have to talk to you.

So I told Matt about how in my A-Z post, I said I played the harp and that my job title was priest.  He asked me why, and after I told him, he told me that you guys would just think I was weird.  So I will explain myself here.

First of all, I don't play any instruments - so that's a boring answer.  My thought process when I wrote "harp" was that maybe in Heaven I will get to play an instrument.  Clearly, the harp is the instrument I will play in Heaven. Okay, you are probably thinking I am even weirder now.  Whatever.  I thought it was funnier without the explanation.

Next. Priest.  This is very simple.  Revelation 1:5-6 (ESV) says that "[Jesus] loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom [of] priests to his God and Father..."  So, my job description is priest, although I should not have capitalized it.  The weird goes on.

Also, in case you were wondering, I definitely do plenty of laundry.  If I go one day without doing laundry, I feel like I am falling behind.  Since I wear the same clothes almost every day bc of maternity, especially pants and jeans, I kind of have to do a lot of laundry.  (This makes me feel justified about obsessively changing underwear.  I just assume that I'll have to do laundry anyway.)  This probably makes no sense, but oh well.

I have some updates for you.  One, I caved and ended up BUYING Henry's Halloween costume.  It's definitely going to be warm.  I might have to poke holes in it.  Who was I kidding about making his costume?

That being said, I have (annoyingly) jumped on the pinterest bandwagon (everybody's doing it), and I actually have a few DIY projects that I HOPE to have time to make before Henry's brother comes.

We might have a name.  I know I've said that before, but I'm feeling more confident this time.

Henry is going to be switching to a big boy bed REALLY SOON, like potentially tonight if we aren't too lazy.  I'm not certain how in the world this is going to work, but I will update you.

non-maternity maternity clothing and 33 weeks!

With the ushering in of the cooler weather this week, I've had to make a bit of a wardrobe change... What I've conveniently discovered is that I have about four non-matertnity cardigans that actually fit my maternity body.  All of them were purchased in the last year or so, between having Henry and getting pregnant again.

So, should I a) be happy that I have stuff to wear in this weather, b) be unhappy that the type of clothes I was purchasing one year post baby were suitable for an 8.5 month pregnant belly, c) get over myself?

Clearly, C is the answer.  Admittedly, A would be a good response.  Not shockingly, B was my initial reaction.

Since I did not post a 28 week or a 32 week pic, I figured why not post a 33 week pic?  I literally took this 20 minutes ago, after having been up since 5:45am.  My laziness beat my vanity today, because what I want to do is blur out my face, but that would take too much effort. The truth is that this is probably how I look about 90% of the time (minus the un-brushed bedhead and tank top).  So be proud, I'm getting over myself - or at least pretending.

 

I did some comparing, and my belly definitely looks bigger this time around than last time.  I don't have a good, post-able picture for comparison, but during the last pregnancy, I looked about that pregnant when I was 36 weeks, so that is lovely.  (In my defense, I'm pretty sure Henry was a lot lower, and this baby is hanging out up top.)  The good news is, assuming I don't gain more weight than I should over the next 7 weeks, I will end up weighing the exact same at the end of pregnancy #2 as I did pregnancy #1... even though I have worked out probably 1/2 as much or less.  The bad news is, after Henry was born, Matt lost a perma 10 pounds, and I will be passing him in that dept. shortly. (Something I was very happy did not happen last time.)

Happy Friday!

it's still hot

I never stop sweating.

I turned the AC down just two measly degrees lower than we normally keep it tonight, and Matt was seriously concerned that we were all going to freeze to death.  (Which, by the way, it was NOT that low.)  I then informed him that I sweat in my sleep every single night.  Have some mercy on the pregnant lady for crying out loud!  He's more concerned that our sweet child is going to be cold.

Back in July, when I told people that the baby was due in December, they'd say, "At least you don't have to be huge in the heat of the summer..."

It's officially mid-October, I am ALMOST 32 weeks into this pregnancy, and I am pretty sure the high has been in the 90s at least twice this week.  Am I glad it's not 112? Absolutely, but it's not exactly cool outside.

This also poses a problem for Halloween Costumes.  Most retailers probably assume that on October 31st it will be cold outside.  So if you do a quick search for toddler and baby costumes, 95% of them are "plush" or made of fleece, or of some material that would make a Texas toddler sweat like a maniac... which Henry does anyway when he's wearing cotton.

So, get excited, I MIGHT ACTUALLY MAKE HENRY'S HALLOWEEN COSTUME.  And, for once, I have successfully decided what he is going to be.  Until about 10 minutes ago, I had not decided.  I suppose this is the week for decision making.  Maybe a name for #2 will also be decided upon before the week's end... but let's not get ahead of ourselves.

You might be wondering why in the world I am up at 2 AM.  This is where confession comes in.  After my post about stopping caffeine, I fell off the wagon (is that the correct terminology), and made a very poor decision to get a cup of coffee at 4:30 PM today.  So, even though I am exhausted, I am awake.  I'm about to crash though, so I gotta get outta here. Peace.

gastrointestinal issues

Since I know you're all dying to know about my GI.

No but really, let me start by saying this.  When my stomach growls, it's all on the left side of my abdomen.  I've concluded that the baby is on the right side, and my stomach has somehow been pushed to the left side of my belly.  It is so weird.

Next. I've had some stomach issues this pregnancy.  In addition to the virus heard 'round the world, my stomach has not been able to handle anything too fatty or greasy.  When we were at the beach in August, I woke up in a cold sweat (actually it was more like a hot sweat) with a yucky stomach "bug" that was probably just my body's way of telling me that fried shrimp wasn't the best choice for dinner.  Sunday night it happened again after eating some fatty, greasy, cheesy Italian Fare.  I've never had problems like this before; my body tends to embrace fatty goodness.  I guess I should be thankful that this has been a nice, easy way to regulate my diet.

I'll spare you the details, but I have also had some general digestion problems over the last two to three weeks, and after cutting 1- caffeine and 2- artificial sweetener out of my diet, the GI issues are all resolved!  I find that simply amazing, but that's probably because behind this cool cover up, I am a little bit of a science and anatomy nerd at heart.  I totally chose the wrong degree.

Oh, and you read that right, no coffee or diet coke in this diet anymore - for now.  (And let me defend myself by saying that my doctor approves of less than 300 mg of caffeine a day during pregnancy, or about two caffeinated beverages a day.  Sure, maybe I overdosed a handful of times, but mostly I was in the range. ;) )

TTYL, Alligator.

hiatus much?

I'm not going to lie, I've tried several times to post over the past week but to no avail.  It's difficult to decide just what to post after not posting for such a long time... though that's clearly not the only decision I've had difficulty making recently (see below).

I suppose I owe it to you all to explain what in the world I've been doing.

First, I took a girls' trip to L.A. with my two best friend's from high school.  

Here we are outside the Chinese Theater.

Santa Monica Pier

Villa Blanca in Beverly Hills - Owned by a "Real Housewife"

 We've been enjoying the last two days where we got to watch this stuff called "RAIN" fall out of the sky.  We felt like modern day Noahs.  Henry for sure felt like Noah, since we realized that he probably has not seen rain since he can consciously remember.  Needless to say, we were soo soo thankful that God gave us some real rainfall this weekend!

 

He was totally fascinated.

We have also been watching some college football (and by "we" I mean Matt). I was so excited for Henry to get to sport this shirt my cousin gave him for his birthday!

It says "genetically confused.  So cute, huh?

Today, we realized that we officially have TWO MONTHS till Baby #2 is due to enter the world.  I like the way Matt put it, "You only have two more months of this [pointing to belly, referring to pregnancy], then you get a break for awhile."  Ha ha.  Gee thanks.  With that said.  Here is a list of the things we have NOT been doing.

1. Choosing a name.
2. Decorating a room.
3. Nesting in any form or fashion.
4. Exercising.  (Matt has been, Leah has not.  Just thought I'd throw that in there.)

Although, I FINALLY think I decided on what to do with the rooms tonight, and so Matt will get to work on that next weekend.  After we made our game plan, I sternly told him, "DO NOT LET ME CHANGE MY MIND."

You see, I have suffered from a complete inability to make up my mind regarding almost everything during this pregnancy.  It's not unlikely that we will be taking our name list (which currently has about 5 or 6 names) to the hospital.

More posts to come soon.  Love!

Wanted: Dream Interpreter Please

Okay, I am starting to wonder if there is something wrong with me.  You may remember that I had some strange dreams during my first pregnancy, but most of them were either recurring dreams that I had always had OR they were about the baby.  Well, since I have been pregnant with baby boy Gibson #2, I have had a whole new recurring dream, which I never had before.  I have had it THREE times now, and so I'm really starting to wonder what's going on subconsciously that's making me dream these dreams... or nightmares.  (And, for the record, I have not had ONE dream about the baby this time, whereas last time I think I had three... so that's a little weird too.)

First Dream.  I am riding in the car with my father-in-law (yes, just the two of us - weird) down a winding road, and there is a tornado VERY close by.  In this particular dream, my father-in-law acts cool, calm and collected... he is very confident that we won't get sucked up by the tornado... and we don't.  We safely drive RIGHT BY it, which was freaky, but we make it out safely.

Second Dream.  This time, Matt is driving, and I am in the front seat, and Henry is in his car seat.  All of the sudden, there are several tornadoes very close to our car.  We are driving along, and I think we are going to make it, when all of a sudden, we start to spin.  At first, I get mad at Matt because I thought he drove straight into the tornado, but then we realize that the tornado came straight out of the sky and sucked us up.  In this particular dream, we were 100% confident that the three of us would definitely be separated and very likely all die, so I was actually telling Henry that I would see him in Heaven and saying goodbye to both of them forever... at which I woke up with a serious stomach ache that turned out to be a gross virus. (I originally thought I was just sick because of the dream.)

Third Dream.  Last night.  This time, we were at my in-law's house (theme here?), and for some reason we all decided to leave the house.  Matt, Henry and I left in our car, and we were following my in-laws in their car.  As we were following them, we noticed a tornado outside the window... so we decided we needed to pull over at the elementary school parking lot right up the street... so we and Matt's whole family were in the parking lot seeking refuge from the tornado (???)... and while we were there, Matt was selling some parts of his old car to some dude in the parking lot who wanted them... anyway, after a few minutes, we all decided to pile in Matt's parent's car again.  Matt's dad was driving, and he had a choice, he could go one way where the tornadoes were clearly still active, or he could turn and go the other way where the sky was perfectly clear and sunny.  For some reason, he started driving towards the tornadoes, but NO ONE IN THE CAR SEEMED TO CARE EXCEPT FOR ME.  So I was yelling, "MARK (that's my FIL's name), WHERE ARE YOU GOING!?" And he just shrugged his shoulders, hardly acknowledging me at all.  Meanwhile, Matt and his mom were both "sssshhhing" me because I guess by questioning my FIL's decision to drive straight into a tornado, I was being disrespectful.  As we drove closer to the tornado, we passed several houses that had been destroyed by the tornado.  Since no one was listening to me and I wasn't allowed to openly question his decision to drive into the tornadoes, I decided to send Matt a text message that said, "Where is your dad GOING?"  Apparently, Mark was headed to HEB, where the tornadoes were supposedly the worst.  This dream ended at this point (thankfully) when my alarm went off.

So, I mentioned in my last post that my husband is constantly telling me to relax, and maybe you can get a hint of that from these dreams where I have pretty much been panicky in all three.  I don't really think of myself as having a lot of anxiety - though I am sure there is much more beneath the surface than I've really discovered. And, admittedly, I have struggled more with anxiety since Henry was born.  (Which, to be honest, has been a huge blessing because it's forced me to press into the God of Peace!)  Anyway, if any of you are named "Moses" or "Daniel" and you want to tell me what the deal is with these dreams, I'd welcome your interpretations. :)

preggo mom brain

I've been seriously messed up in the head.

I have been putting things that belong in the pantry in the fridge and vice versa.  Example - nonstick cooking spray in the fridge.  There was another one, but I can't remember it right now.

More than once at the grocery store (or McDonald's), I have handed the cashier the wrong amount of cash.  Example - the total is $54, and I hand the cashier two twenty dollar bills, three five dollar bills, and five one dollar bills.  That's $60, if you weren't counting, but I could have just left the five one dollar bills out.

Or last night my total was $30.21, but I handed the cashier $30.50 instead of $30.25.  I should just tell the cashier that I wanted to see if they were paying attention, but that wouldn't be true.

Then today I was making an appointment for Henry to get his 18 month shots and his flu shot, and I originally asked for a 3PM appointment.  (After changing the day of the appointment twice.)  Then, after she had booked the 3:00, I asked to change the appointment for the third time, "Actually can we make it 3:30?"  The receptionist replied, "I have a 3:00, but not one at 3:30."  To which I replied, "Okay, great.  So the appointment is Wednesday at 3:30."  Obviously receptionist was probably like, "WHAT IS UP WITH THIS WOMAN!"  But I caught myself fast enough and said, "I'm so sorry, I am pregnant, and I have lost my mind.  We'll see you on Wednesday at 3:00."  At least she laughed.

That's all I got right now.

five mini posts in one big post

The following five items may not be blog worthy, but ready or not, here they are...

1. Yesterday at Costco, I literally watched a woman take three cartons of eggs (w/ 18 eggs each) and swap out all of the bad and cracked ones into a single carton... she then returned the carton with the bad eggs back to the shelf and kept the other two cartons with the good eggs.  I literally sat there, watched her do it, and then stared at her as she took the eggs back to the shelf.  She was not phased. I guess I'm not very intimidating. I was totally appalled.
2. Last night, Matt and I were on our way to a dinner date, and Matt sarcastically said to another driver (who obviously could not hear him), "Nice lights buddy" because this particular car had not yet turned on his lights.  It was about 7:30 pm, definitely dark enough to require headlights. At this point I realized our car felt a little dim and asked Matt, "Do you have your lights on?"  Nope, he didn't.  Oops.  We got a nice laugh out of that.
3. Another thought - ACL(Austin City Limits) is SO not my thing and never will be.  I know, I am not cool.  I went ONE time, and I don't know, something about a lot of drunk, smelly people and 100 degree temperatures surrounded by port-a-potties just doesn't appeal to me.  I didn't handle it well when I was 24 and not pregnant, so now that I am 27 and officially in my third trimester, I'm pretty sure I'd like it even less.  And my friends, who still consider themselves young and cool enough to go to such a festival, know that I hate it and know better than to ever try to bring me along. ;)  But more power to you if it's your thing!
4. The reason I am up right now is because I slept with Henry in the guest bed last night.  We have spoiled him recently, letting him sleep in big beds - something he's going to learn have to do on his own pretty soon anyway - but he's got about a 100% chance of falling about three feet to the floor at this point, so I decided I'd share the guest bed with him.  When I wake up in the middle of the night and look at Henry, he looks EXACTLY like Matt... so I guess there's not much of a difference which one I sleep with.  Except that Henry sleeps diagonally across the bed with his arms spread out, taking up at least three feet of space, and he tries to nestle his head into my armpit while pushing me further and further to the edge of the bed.  Matt, on the other hand, knows that cuddling and sleep do not go together in my book, so he lies perfectly still on the edge of the bed and gives me all the room.  Thanks babe.
5. Yesterday I officially reached the THIRD TRIMESTER!  I am 28 weeks! YIKES!  We tried to take a belly picture, but vain Leah kept me from liking any of the ones we took, so maybe I'll try again today.  In the meantime, our kiddo still has no room and no name.

I just like racking up medical bills, that's all.

Last night I woke up at 3 AM on-the-dot after having a nightmare about getting sucked up by a tornado.  When I woke up, I felt nauseous, and I literally thought it was because of the "near-death" experience in my dream.

Then about 15 minutes later, I started to vomit (and the other crap - literally, pardon me) almost every 20 minutes for the next 3 hours.  At which point I was just dry-heaving.  So at about 5:45 am, I was feeling pretty gross and out of control and dehydrated, and since I have learned that dehydration can onset pre-term labor, I decided to call the after hours number at my doctor.

No idea the on-call doc would tell me to go to Triage at the hospital, but she did. So Matt and I woke up little Henry and off we went.  This post is about that lovely experience.

They asked me about 100 questions, as if I was actually in labor... way less exciting when you know that you have 3 months to go.  For those of you who have never been in a labor and delivery triage, they ask you everything from "Do you feel safe in your current relationship?" to "Do you live in a house?" to your weight.  When she asked me how much I currently weigh, my response was, "Too much."  She didn't laugh, so I went ahead and confessed the actual number.  Obviously I answered "Yes" to the "Do you feel safe in your current relationship?" question, but what I should have said is, "Yes, but I'm not sure my husband does."  Ha jk.

Immediately after a gazillion questions, the nurse left, and I vomited again - don't know how I was able to keep it all down for like an hour while she was interrogating me.

Side note: Since about 3 different people asked what the gender of the child was... and what I had at home, let me just say that people act like they are sad for me when they find out I am having another boy.  This kind of disturbs me.  Maybe because most people choose to only have two kids, so they think I don't have another chance?  I'm not really sure... either way, it's getting old to have to reassure people that I really am EXCITED to be having another boy.

I was really crampy off and on all morning - to the point that I seriously wondered if my cramps were contractions because they were consistent and they only lasted a minute or so at a time... but since they were monitoring my uterus, they were able to tell me that it was just cramps... and the cramps went away after they hydrated me via IV.  They also were TRYING to monitor the unnamed baby in my uterus's heartbeat, but he was literally so freakishly active that I had to just take of his heartbeat monitor, bc the sound of him moving was making me have a headache.  And I'm sure his movement was not very helpful in my effort to keep from vomiting and "you-know-what-ing."

So they did a few tests to rule out food poisoning and a bladder infection.  Get excited, but they had to take a urine sample via CATHETER, and let me tell you, getting a catheter put in (and removed) with no epidural is NOT A GOOD TIME.

Side note: the bed in triage is so uncomfortable that you seriously need an epidural just to sit in it.  Seriously, my whole back is sore from that bed this morning.

Also, my IV tube got disconnected at some point, causing blood to literally pour out from my arm all over the bed and my gown.  (You're welcome, those of you who love the thought of blood.)  The best part of this is that in my right mind, I might have actually put some pressure on my arm to try to stop it, but pregnant Leah just sat there totally helpless with her arm in the air letting it drip all over.  Something about having a nurse at your beckon call makes you act totally helpless.

After all the tests they were able to determine that it was most likely a stomach virus, not an infection or food poisoning. Although I am swearing off Mexican Food for at least a week, since that's what I had the night before.  So now we're just hoping God has mercy and that Matt and Henry don't get it.  Matt is currently disinfecting the whole house.

Clearly, since I am writing this, I am feeling a little better - keeping food down and I pretty much just have a terrible headache.  I just thought you guys would love to hear about my lovely "I'm not in labor but I get to go to the hospital" experience.

Okay, all done.

what a gift!

1. Guess what! After breaking the record for number of days the temperature has gotten over 100 this year, God gave us a break today and only made the temperature go up to 94 in Austin. Wow!  That's gift number 1. Tomorrow, however, we will most likely start again with day number 71 of 100+ temperatures.  I'm looking for the silver lining.

2.  Guess what else!!!  I passed my glucose tolerance test with "flying colors" according to my nurse Judy.  Since that was left via voicemail, I will have to call back and get my actual numbers, because I am interested to know what "flying colors" means.  Either way, I am thankful I'm not a diabetic.  And next time I get pregnant, I will ask to please skip the 1 hr screen because obviously it doesn't work. That's gift number 2.

There are thousands more gifts, but I'm thankful for those two things today. :)

24 weeks!

I failed my 1 hour glucose screen again this morning. That happened last time too, so hopefully it's just my body being dumb and NOT gestational diabetes, but we'll find out for sure after my THREE HOUR diagnostic test on Monday. Here's a 24 week belly pic.

I should definitely win points in the no-vanity department for this one.  No makeup. First thing in the morning.  I sort of want to just blur out my face.

While we're on the topic, my doctor had 2 deliveries and 1 emergency "procedure" during my appointment this morning, so I had already spent about 2.5 hours waiting... It would have been nice if I could have just done that 3 hour test today!

I can't believe I am already 24 weeks.  Last pregnancy, I felt like I was counting down at 24 weeks.  Right now I still feel like I am just getting started... which might explain why we still don't know where we are going to put this baby when it gets here. :)

Oh, and because I am sure you are all wondering, my weight was back on track at this appointment. :)  So there was at least a silver lining on the 2.5 hour wait and the glucose fail.

Have a happy weekend!  I'll try to post more - our internet has actually been very shady lately.