Category Archives: and then there were 3

More Random Crap

Posted on April 9, 2008 by Sara

CA has green goop leaking from her nose and right eye. It is not at all charming. She was up several times during the night and ended up in our bed after Hub left for work at 5AM. I’m waiting for a “post-naptime come and get your sick child what were you thinking sending her today” type of call from daycare.

ED will tell anyone of his love of “brown” and “pink” pop tarts. Sadly, Hub bought the wrong pink ones, strawberry instead of cherry. The frosting on the strawberry is white, making them “not pink”. I argued with ED about it being the same thing, and my last words before getting in the shower this morning were “It better be gone when I get out.” It was, and I asked him about it. Was it good, etc. I noticed there was no pop-tart mess on his face and questioned him further. He insisted it was “all gone”. I asked him to why there were no pop tarts in his teeth and was told “Because it’s all gone in the garbage can, not in my belly.” What kind of 4-year-old can play the semantics game? Mine can!!

We are grilling tonight, and I am excited. The weather has been great the last few days, and though it is dreary today, it is still warm. I’m going to be bitter when it sleets and rains this weekend.

Backtracking a bit, Hub took the kids to the children’s museum yesterday and spent a good 5 hours there. He called me several times with updates. My favorite one “This place is a haven for SAHM’s! I wonder if I could join the Mommy club!”

We’ve been having quite a bit of dialogue about what to do with the kids while I am on Maternity Leave. I think it’s important for them to continue with daycare—it won’t be any fun being cooped up in the house with baby and me all summer. When pre-school changes to summer camp in late June, we have the opportunity to modify their schedule until September without losing their MWF slot for the fall. The problem is that they would change over to 2 days per week BEFORE my leave (I plan on working thru 7/15) and they would change back to 3 days per week probably a full month before I am back at work. This whole business of not being able to hold our slots for us is a bit ridiculous. I get that they are in the business of making money, but seriously, come on.

We haven’t told them yet that we don’t plan on enrolling The Bean until she is a year old; when ED is safely in kindergarten. They are starting to look at me funny as I waddle through the halls with no mention of my pregnancy. Whatev.

Have I mentioned that we are considering traveling to Atlanta at the end of May? When I will be starting my 8th month of pregnancy? Oh yeah!! I wonder if it will be worse than VA was in June when I was pregnant with CA.

And finally, I found out late last night that the gutting of my kitchen is happening tomorrow. I am not at all prepared. Nothing like a little bit of notice!!

Oh, and a last minute FINALLY!! Hub just brought a Ford Edge by to see if we really could fit all 3 car seats in the back. WE CAN!!! It’s an 07 so I think we can get a pretty good deal. YAY! YAY! YAY! Next to the El Camino this is my dream car!!

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In Dreams

Posted on April 8, 2008 by Sara

My dreams have been dark lately.

I should preface this by saying that about a month ago our 2 snails, the ones who were screwing all the time, died. They left their baby behind and we bought a new snail to keep him company since ED cried that the baby didn’t have any parents anymore!! Hub cleaned our tank over the weekend, and tragically, the baby snail died a few days later. He is lying crumpled and soft at the bottom of our fish tank.

This, while I was unaware, is apparently weighing heavily on me.

I dreamed of the baby last night, floating around in my womb, and then suddenly, I was looking at her from the outside of my belly, as if it were made of clear glass. And out of nowhere, she was curled in to a ball, and laying at the bottom of my belly. Lifeless.

I woke at 4AM in a panic. I could not remember waking and feeling her move during the night as I do on most other nights. She was not moving then either. I got up and went to the bathroom. Sat on the couch for a few minutes. Still, nothing. I contemplated eating or drinking some juice to make her move, but thought better of it since I’d have to reschedule my Synthroid for the day.

I told myself she was fine. It was just a dream. But I couldn’t shake the dread.

Finally, she wiggled a bit; I’m sure she was sleeping. I slept fitfully for another hour or so before getting up for work.

She has been kicking me hard today, right in the ribs. And I don’t think I have ever felt more relieved or gladder to be uncomfortable and mildly miserable.

Be safe Baby. Be healthy and strong.

Sweet Dreams.

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Sarcasm and Self Pity Must Make for a Good Post

Posted on April 7, 2008 by Sara

I’m tired and crabby. I even went for a walk on my lunch break ( I KNOW, RIGHT???) to alleviate the crabby, and it did not help. I did feel great while I was doing it though; I’m just right back where I started from.

I think there is a honeymoon phase in pregnancy—you are done being sick and you feel pretty good. I am so done with that phase, if it ever existed. I’m sore, and hot and moderately miserable thanks to the 24-hour heartburn that seems to exist even with the 2 pepcid I take per day. I asked Hub to turn on the AC around 3AM, and he very politely suggested that I crack a window. It was 40 degrees outside. I was roasting though—I sure can’t wait for the summer!! What’s really great is the way my hips give out at odd intervals. This has happened during both of my previous pregnancies as well. Why don’t I think of these things before I go and get knocked up.

Someone just told me not to have a fourth baby. Why? Because her sister had a 4th and has regretted it every day since. Nice. Thank you so much for sharing; I do appreciate your opinion.

And please stop telling me “Oh, there will be more kids than adults! HA HA HA!” Fools. We have a 3rd adult in our house for one thing (well. I guess I’d count FIL as .5 adult—but whatev), and for another, just STFU. Seriously.

And can you believe my eye doctor wants to reschedule since I’m pregnant. My eyes are SCREWY right now. But apparently, it could be pregnancy related.

Speaking of pregnancy related, I think I have carpal tunnel. I think that is what caused my wrist to give out and dump a whole pot of boiling water on my other hand. Yet I type away.

And also–I wnet through all of our baby clothes this weekend. Up until then it completely escaped me that I gave all of our newborn baby girl clothes away. PHRICK!

And finally, it seems I am hit in the face with all of the things can go wrong in pregnancy on a daily basis, via the internet. I happened to google the name we are considering, 1st and middle, and the very first thing that came up was a baby who was stillborn, and her entire story, complete with photos of her posed with family members. It was so incredibly tragic and I cried for this poor family, but it also creeped me the hell out. I totally respect the family’s right, and they did what they needed to do to get through it, but I wish I never saw it.

And since we’re jumping around here in a ridiculous fashion, do you know how much it’s going to cost us to do our upstairs? Do you also know how hard it will be for us to get a loan, since for construction people only want to lend you a portion of what they think your property will be worth after it’s complete? It’s starting to look like we’ll be hiring someone to do the framing, and will probably do the rest ourselves. How fun does that sound?? With preschoolers and a newborn! I can’t wait!!

And finally, Hub’s trip to California in the fall has been extended to be about 5 days long. The bride wants him out there by the Thursday before the wedding. The wedding is on Sunday people. We are talking 5 days of me home alone with 3 kids. My mother has offered to come and help me. I’m not sure which prospect is worse?

I need some ice cream.

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Coping Mechanisms

Posted on April 1, 2008 by Sara

Some of you commented after my L OV E post that I seemed to be in a really good place, especially considering that I am nearing the 6-month mark. That was more of a diversion tactic, because seriously, folks, I am miserable. I have never had such horrific back and hip pain, my wrists are killing me, the prescription on my glasses is just off enough to be bothersome, and I can’t sleep for more than 2 hours at a time. We ran in to 3 children with the name of our choice at various activities over the weekend. Seriously, my friends, miserable.

Work is stupid too. Everyone here behaves like a child. It amazes me that while at work; people put their personal agenda ahead of that of the business. What the hell are we paying these people for?

Here is what is helping me cope:

• White toast with butter and honey in mass quantities.
• Decaf Honey Lattes from Starbucks
• Lunchtime “browsing” trips to Target
• Honey Crullers from Tim Horton’s
• Jon and Kate Plus 8
• Taking CA to gymnastics (gymnasKICKS! As she calls it) and watching her do the entire class
• Apple Pie A la Coldstone (this was a one time thing, but sooooo delicious)

My coping tactics are probably leading me to gestational diabetes.

The installers are giving us a hard time, as in not calling us back, about the kitchen. Hub needs to do his schedule. I need to schedule a few days off to help with clearing the kitchen out, and they won’t give us an install date. Hub cursed {insert home improvement chain here} out for about 30 minutes last night and they promised him a call from the installer this morning. We still haven’t heard. The cupboards are taking up more than half of our garage, so they need to get on it already!

I have decided to take the week of Memorial Day off of work as well. I have a comp day saved, so with the paid holiday, I only have to use 3 vacation days. I’m angling to have 10 weeks off after The Bean is born and still have my time off at Thanksgiving and Christmas. So far I am doing ok. 8 weeks until vacation and then 6 more weeks that I plan on working before going out on short term DB. When you break it down like that, it doesn’t sound bad at all, does it? 14 more weeks of work; I think I can do that!

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10 For Thursday

Posted on March 20, 2008 by Sara

1. I came in to work early again today because my calendar is booked solid from 9-4. I am double booked twice and I have to do 2 interviews. What the heck?? Of course, instead of getting work done, here I am……

2. Hub has worked every night this week leaving me to deal with the kids on my own. It’s not really a big deal, but I sure am wiped out. He will be home tonight until 10, so I feel like I’m getting a break.

3. I have 2 videos that I want to post and I keep forgetting to upload them. One is of ED on the sled, screaming up to Hub after he says “all right ED!” that he is actually Jeff Gordon. The other is of CA who wanted to watch herself sing the ABC’s on camera. So we recorded that, and then she insisted on singing “I love you”. Maybe tonight.

4. My mother had a panic attack last night because the ham she ordered from QVC for Easter Dinner is on back order. Am I the only one who thinks that ordering a ham from QVC, as well as a ham being on back order in general, is hysterical? She didn’t find it very funny.

5. I’ve been on the border of getting sick all week. I has stomach issues on Tues and Weds and today my throat and ears hurt. I credit the prenatal vitamins with keeping me healthy. As opposed to the 2 other times, I have hardly been sick at all. It’s refreshing.

6. I found out that our hospital has remodeled all of their post-partum rooms; they are all private and they boast a home-like atmosphere. The baby gets to room in with you the whole time you are there. I’m pretty sure the nurses will still barge in on me at all hours of the night. I wouldn’t exactly call that home-like.

7. I’ve been giving more thought to my proposed early induction. I hated being induced, however, if it gives me the chance of having a smaller baby, one who does not have to go to the NICU for hypoglycemia, I think I’m going to do it. I would rather be uncomfortable and somewhat miserable instead of going through what I did with CA. That thought has terrified me since I got pregnant; I can not leave the hospital without my baby again. It’s not going to happen. So when we evaluate at 36 weeks, I will ask for a scheduled induction.

8. Speaking of this baby bean, Hub has decided he really doesn’t like the middle name we have chosen. He’ll go with it, but I’m not sure that I want to hear his incessant complaining about it. Every time he hears CA’s middle name, he makes a comment. He hates it. Whatev. We’ll see what happens.

9. I’m also prepping myself to begin dieting before I come back to work from my maternity leave. This will be hard because typically I am hungrier when I am breastfeeding than I am when I am pregnant. It’s been proven, however, that I can not start a diet at work. I need to establish the good habits prior to coming back. It’s going to be hard, but I need to do something. I can’t look like this anymore. I bought “You on a Diet” just before I got pregnant, so I’m going to study up and figure out a way to do this without depleting my milk etc. (there is a huge change that post-partum feelings will send this all down the toilet, but it’s good in theory, right????)

10. Finally, I commented somewhere the other day that CA was 26 months old. Am I on drugs? She is 2 years and 7 months old, which makes her what, 31 months old? Holy hell! She’s closer to being 3 than I realized!! I worry about her not being the baby anymore. She is SO the baby. I had similar worries for ED before she was born and it all worked out fine, but I can’t help but worry that we are forever impacting her life by making her the middle child. It’s valid; her life—all of our lives—will change forever when the bean is here. She’s just had so much time to herself as the baby of our family, where as ED had less than 2 years, and it scares me. I’m encouraged though that she has already offered to help change diapers, and rub the baby’s back, and be my helper. She’s going to be a great big sister, of that, I am sure.

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There Is Nothing Holding This Post Together…..

Posted on March 19, 2008 by Sara

To say that I am lazy when it comes to housework is a huge understatement. Clutter is kind of a way of life for us. I don’t see a huge point in spending 2 hours cleaning every night after work when I could be spending time with the kids. I’ve been a little more lax than I should be concerning the kitchen lately, since we are getting all new stuff, but yesterday I got some sort of bug up my ass, and decided at 8:30 that I was scrubbing the kitchen from top to bottom. It was like I went in to panic mode or something. There will be people in our house, installing cupboards and what not. They’re not going to think, “Oh, the floor is dirty because they’re getting a new one” but rather “these people are scumbags and rather than clean, they’re getting new stuff!!” So I cleaned until 11PM, and am paying for it today.

Hub noticed though and thanked me (at 2:30 am) without stating the obvious, which is, “What’s the point”. I think I need to have a serious talk with him about talking to me when he gets home though. Isn’t it bad enough that the bean keeps me up with her cervix kicking, leg cramps and heartburn all night?

Funny story—one of my reps who is pregnant called in 3 days in a row last week without giving me a reason. When she came back, she told me that she had called in because she was just so tired, and she knew I would understand. Seriously? Talk to me when you have 2 kids getting up in the middle of the night AND you’re tired from being 6-months pregnant. Ass. (I feel like I told you this story already)

Another story about a pregnant friend (and employee)……she actually had her baby today! She tried for 9 years, since her 1st was born and had been through fertility treatment and several miscarriages. Last summer she said she had enough; and if she was not pregnant by the time she turned 30, she was done. She attempted to sell all of her baby stuff at a garage sale in June, and nobody came. She found out days before her birthday in July that she was pregnant. She had tons of problems and has been out of work since November, and against all odds, this baby, who she named Faith, was born today, healthy and almost 9lbs. I am so thrilled for her and her family. Did you know that today is St. Joseph’s day? He is the patron saint of families. The whole situation, if you ask me, is remarkable.

I am 20 weeks today!! WOOT!! Half way there!!

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Happy Tuesday!!

Posted on March 18, 2008 by Sara

Somehow, I made it to work at 7:30 this morning. I usually roll in around, say, 9:10 or so, so this is an amazing feat. How, you might ask? Hub came home from work at 5-ish. I was on the couch, where I had been all night. He thought it was important to tell me that ED was in our bed, and ask whether I was aware. I was not, nor did I see how this was relevant conversation for 5AM. After Hub made himself comfy in bed, ED woke up and came out on the couch with me. Sleep was out the window.

I lay on the couch in the dark for about 30 minutes and then decided to screw it, got up and came to work. I even made my own breakfast and coffee instead of stopping. Seriously. AND I wore a skirt and heels. The world may be ending. To top it all off, there was amazing music on my satellite radio on the way in, starting with The Bloodhound Gang and “Fire Water Burn” and ending with Damn Yankees “High Enough” (which I can not get out of my head).

Let’s hope my day doesn’t hit the shitter from here.

I saw my new OB yesterday who was perfect and exactly what I was looking for ( think I mentioned that she was the resident at the hospital and assisted in both of my other deliveries). We had an actual conversation instead of the 3 minute in and out appointments I was getting at the old place. I felt like she truly cared about my well being, and the baby, and making sure we had the absolute best care. It was warm and fuzzy like the old practice was before everyone left. She told me that the DR at the old one only delivers babies one night a week and one weekend a month, so the on call DR’s affiliated with the hospital have to do all of their deliveries. NOBODY told me that, and let me tell you that if some stranger was delivering my baby, I would not have been pleased. So, I’m extremely happy. Hub is happy too because they induce at 38.5-39 weeks. He’s afraid that since CA came so quickly, we won’t have time to go to the hospital. I have strong feelings AGAINST being induced, because pitocin contractions come straight from the devil, but we’ll see where we are—the DR thinks that it is a good option to consider based on the size of my other babies. The other good thing would be that they do them on Mon, Tues or Weds during the day so we could potentially do it when the kids are home and not worry about the middle of the night shuffle. I have to have an ultrasound at 36 weeks to check her size and we’ll go from there, but I think it’s a pretty sure bet that she will be a July baby one way or the other.

I get more excited about her by the day. I will be 20 weeks tomorrow. There is so much to be done!! I’m not allowing myself to go through her clothes and things until I accomplish what I want to get done upstairs, which basically involves an overhaul. Our cupboards came in yesterday, so our kitchen should be done by the end of April at the latest. Hub hasn’t even started the tear-out or moved the 2 doorways we need to move. I think I need to take a few days off to clear the kitchen out. I want to take before photos as well. My list just keeps getting longer, and I should be a lot more motivated, but all I can think about is baby girl.

I can’t believe its only 9:15! What am I going to do with the rest of my day??

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When the Baby Name Game Gets Messy

Posted on March 11, 2008 by Sara

I love to watch the old Seinfeld reruns before I go to bed every night. Last night was one of my favorites, the one where George has his heart set on naming his baby, who has not even been conceived, Seven. His fiancée Susan wants nothing of it and mentions it to a pregnant friend, who loves it. She and her husband decide that their baby will be named Seven, and George goes on a rampage, causing her to go in to labor. George goes with them to the hospital, all the while suggesting different names to no avail. The episode ends, and in my opinion climaxes with George pressed against the glass of the delivery room door screaming in despair, “SEVEN!! SEVEN!!!”

I laughed hysterically last night, as I watched this episode for what was probably the 20th time, never thinking that I would be in a similar situation today. But here it is, Tuesday morning, and friends of ours who did not know the sex of their baby and would not discuss names, emailed to tell of the birth of their new daughter. (You can see where this is going, right?) The subject of the email is “Hannah Emily”.

As soon as I saw it pop, my breath caught in my throat. This probably isn’t justified, but I burst in to tears right at my desk. Hannah is OUR name!! We didn’t have the same middle name, mind you, but it was ours just the same!! I called Hub to tell him and he insisted that this doesn’t change anything. We’ve been talking about her name amongst ourselves since November now, and it doesn’t change anything. “THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING!!!”, I wailed, stifling sniffles. Hub was on a job and couldn’t talk any longer, but it would stand to reason that he thinks I’m a loon.

Am I a loon?

I like to think that I am a pretty rational person. I am well aware that Hannah is on the rise as one of the top baby names out there and I was prepared for our baby girl to have a common name as she enters school. My name is Sara for God’s sake…I was never one in a million and it wasn’t a problem for my parents—they love my name. But never in my life did it occur to me that our friends were considering this name. I think that maybe, MAYBE, I would be ok if they were casual acquaintances, but they are not. In addition to being my SIL’s brother and wife, they are our friends. We see them at family and non-family functions. My brother and SIL would have 2 nieces named Hannah.

We only found out that she was a girl last Thursday and did not tell anyone our name until then. They definitely didn’t know. Justifiably, they had their baby first and it is a free country. I know no malice was involved. She is a beautiful baby girl, with teeny tiny toes, and a full head of blonde hair, and I am thrilled for our friends.

But here I am, my face pressed against the delivery room door screaming “Hannah!! HANNAH!!!!”

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The Weekend, Wind Burn, The Monday After and a Crisis of Underwear

Posted on March 10, 2008 by Sara

We had a pretty big snow storm this weekend which forced many cancellations, including CA’s gymnastics on Saturday morning. I drove home from a baby shower on Friday evening, willing the snow to cancel my bowl-a-thon on Saturday morning, but alas, I had no luck and had to bowl anyway. I came home and Hub, CA and I ventured downtown for our local home and garden show. It was pretty interesting, especially the part where we talked to a guy about remodeling our existing house VS. building a brand new house and how comparable the price would actually be, and the vanilla ice cream with a minty swirl in it.

Hub snowblowed a pretty good hill on to our porch, so the kids spent the day sledding in the front yard yesterday. Well, CA mostly threw snowballs, but ED really enjoyed the sledding. I have photos and video to prove it, but you know me……you may not see them for a while……or at all. The kids’ cheeks were rosy like apples from the cold and the wind, but I was not so lucky. I ended up with a horrible windburn, complete with raised blotchy bumps, all over my cheeks and chin. At first I thought I was having some sort of allergic reaction, but the fact that it only appeared where my skin was exposed convinced me that I did not need to bust out the benedryl (though I had to try harder to convince myself that my throat was not closing up as I drifted off to sleep last night). I’d also decided that if I woke up today looking the same, that I was not coming in to work.

My skin today is red and blotchy, but not bumpy, so I did come to work, but only after dealing with horrific dreams filled with blood and miscarriage all night long (can we do something to shut the dreams off already? It’s getting OLD!), the kids not wanting to get out of bed this morning because it was still dark, a partially flat tire—I thought it was fine but drove FIL’s car in anyway, and an underwear crisis.

I have never had to buy new underwear during pregnancy. I wear them below my belly anyhow, so it has never been an issue. (TMI?? Perhaps.) But this baby girl, she is so low in my belly, that all of my underwear is severely uncomfortable. She is kicking me in my waistband as we speak. I fear that I will be investing in granny panties soon. I’m telling you, its one thing after another these days.

In any case, I arrived at work less than an hour late. And I won another free coffee, bringing my tally to 4 out of, say, 11. Not an entirely bad start to my week.

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2 Appointments, 2 Days

Posted on March 7, 2008 by Sara

The appointment yesterday, though long, was pretty uneventful. We got to the hospital by 9 and did not get in for the sonogram until after 10. The baby is currently breach, but at 18 weeks, it’s not any cause for concern. She is measuring right on schedule, where as my other 2 kids were each 10-days to 2-weeks ahead of the game by the time we had our ultrasound. So, we’ll see how she does. Perhaps she will not have low blood sugar at birth like her brother and sister before her. More importantly, hopefully she will not spend 3 days in the NICU like her sister did. I loved seeing her little profile in there, seeing the exact same button nose of ED and CA that was prominent in their ultrasound photos. Now, more than ever, I can’t wait to meet this little girl. When the doctor illustrated with her 2 fingers around how big the baby is, CA responded with “Oh! That’s about how big my poop is!!” I wanted to die; hub thought it was hysterical. The best part of the day, by far, was going to IHOP afterward. Have you seen the commercial for those shortcake pancakes? YUM. They are a thicker pancake, smothered in fruit and whipped cream. To.Die.For. I highly recommend the blueberry version.

Today I saw the neurologist and didn’t have much to show for it. There haven’t been enough tests done to give pregnant women some hardcore drug. SO we are trying Tylenol with codeine to see if that helps to relieve them. Back in 2 months, but only if it doesn’t help.

I was also successful in changing OBGYN’s today. I see the new one, who was the OB resident at the hospital when I had complications prior to delivery as well as when I delivered each of my other children, at her practice on 3/17. I’m actually pretty excited about it. When my old Dr., who is now the Director of Prenatal Testing at our hospital, did my sonogram yesterday, and I mentioned proposed new doctor’s name, she said that she had actually offered her a position at the old practice but she didn’t accept as she was looking for something different. She comes highly recommended and based on my dealings with her in the past; I think we’ll be satisfied. YAY! It feels good to have something go my way for a change.

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