It's A Boy!

I can't believe I forgot to update this here lol. We had our ultrasound on January 15th and it's a boy! He was FAR from shy about showing off his parts too lol. Not only did we see Very clearly when she was looking for it, but then later as she was trying to measure his femur's he kept moving and there it was plain as day again lol. We got some great pics and it was so neat to see him opening and closing his mouth over and over through the ultrasound. Caught a couple yawns too, and him holding his hands together, then trying to suck his thumb.

He's an active little guy thats for sure!! There's very little time throughout the day where I don't feel him moving around. So far our name choices are Gavin Richard (middle name after dh) or Gavin Robert (middle name after father in law). I will be 23 weeks tomorrow and can't believe how fast time is flying!! I have NOTHING at all ready for this lil guy yet lol. And I mean NOTHING. I keep thinking........oh i have 17 weeks left.......plenty of time right? ha ha nope, especially considering in reality i'll be lucky to have 12 weeks left if this one plans to follow in his brother and sisters footsteps. Really the main things I HAVE to do is bring in the bassinet from the garage, buy or make some diapers (havent decided which yet), and get him some clothes lol. Oh yeah and make a new sling or 2 since most of the ones I use are pretty girly looking. Ahhhh so much to do so little time.

Feeling ok though. Had a bout with some contractions 2 days ago, pretty bad ones too, but nothing since so that's good. It's starting to get harder to get up from sitting though lol and my belly seems to grow a bit more each day. Oh yeah, I had a midwife appt on the 15th too and finally gained some weight!!! :) 7 lbs in 10 days bringing up to 10 lbs total. I go back on Feb 12th and will have my glucose test, thyroid levels checked, and possibly my Rhogam shot. She may wait on the shot til my following appt though, we'll see. Heartburn has kicked in full force now, doesn't matter what i eat drink or breathe and i get heartburn. Nothing compared to the reflux I had with Ashlyn though so for now I'll be grateful for that and just hope I don't get the reflux again. I think I got that at around 28-30 weeks with her.

I just hope things continue to go smoothly. With Ashlyn I was having NST's twice a week, FFN tests once a week, and lots of contrax from about 28 weeks on. With having 5 kids it makes it REALLY hard to get in for all those appt's so i'm really hoping my body and baby stay calm this time and I can stay pregnant a bit longer than I did with Ashlyn. I really don't see making it to May, but end of April would be ok :) Fingers crossed too that this time when my water breaks labor follows so I can avoid the pitocin. (last 2 kids water broke with no onset of labor). Still planning and looking Very forward to a water birth too :)

Quick update....

I got a call Friday from the ins. adjuster, they totalled the van :( The initial assessment was $7,700. I should get the final total tomorrow as well as what they determined the van to be worth, etc. I know we owe WAY more than it's worth, so I really started to freak out. BUT, after talking with the finance company, I found out we have GAP insurance!!!! What a relief! Me and Rich were Both sure that we Didn't have it, but we do :) So from here we have to fill out all the forms, then I guess wait for our ins. company and the GAP insurance to pay off the van, then we can start looking for a new one. In some ways it's a blessing in disguise. We were paying $500/month on the van due to the truck we traded in having so much owed on it still. So now with nothing to roll into a new loan, we should be able to get a very low payment. (i hope!!).

I went to the midwife the other day just to make sure baby was ok, and s/he is doing great in there :) Only 8 more days til my ultrasound!!! It's gonna be a Long 8 days lol. Kids go back to school tomorrow which I'm very happy about :)

Me and a good friend started our Pre-Grand Opening for our new business just this past Friday and we have already had almost 300 unique visitors to the site and lots of entries into the lotteries!!! What an awesome turn out......here's hoping that many will come back this coming Friday for our actual Grand Opening. (see the banner in the upper left of this page). I love being a work at home mom and being able to go into business with a great friend is so much fun :)

Guess that's about all I have to update for now. I can't believe I'm over halfway done with this pregnancy already! Baby is Very active lately and I love seeing and feeling him/her move around. I'm still absolutely clueless on names, maybe some will come to me after finding out the gender. We'll see.

20 weeks and Happy Freaking New Year!

Ok we'll start with the good stuff :) I am 20 weeks today!!! Wow this is going by fast lol. Only 12 more days until my big ultrasound! :) I'm starting to really feel girl so we'll see. I've been feeling pretty good pregnancy wise. The chiro has really been helping my lower back and I'm so glad I started seeing her. The drive sucks but it's so worth it.

I turned 31 on the 31st and me and Rich got to get out and go to dinner which was nice. I didn't stay awake for the new year lol, I lasted til about 11:15 and headed to bed. I think this is the first year ever that I was in bed for the new year. Oh well, didn't miss much. It was snowing like crazy, not sure how much we ended up with but it snowed all night and into new years day. We got at least 8". So on new years day I decided to make a quick trip to the store and leave all the kids home with Rich. Which is unusual for me, even when Rich is home I Always take Ashlyn with me, but that day I didn't. It was 2:00 when I left, I pulled out of my neighborhood onto the main road and right away I saw a car up the road coming the opposite direction and he was going fast and sliding pretty bad. I thought to myself "omg this jerk is gonna hit someone!" It's a 4 lane road so I got to the far right lane to be as far from him as I could. Then I saw his car start to spin. I tried to veer off the road into someone's front yard, thinking I was missing the collision then BAM.....he smashed in the side of me. I just remember holding onto the steering wheel as tight as I could. When it was over I sat there for a minute taking in what had just happened, and realized I was now In the front yard that I tried to get into and my van had spun and was now facing East (i was driving west). I tried to open my door but it wouldn't open so I jumped out the passenger side and started cussing the guy out telling the guy he was damn lucky I didn't have my kids in the car! lol yeah, this guy was about 4 times my size, like I could have really done anything to him lol. So then I look at my van thinking ok there's gonna be a good dent but it's ok.......haha yeah right, the sliding door on the drivers side, the door Ashlyn would have been sitting at, was smashed in, so was the back panel and the back right corner. The back tire was bent. No way the thing was driveable. My belly started cramping quite a bit, most likely from being so upset, but I wasn't injured. I also later realized the the passenger side of the van came just inches away from a telephone pole.

Any long story short, cops came, the prick had no insurance of course, he got citations, both vehicles were towed, and I went home. The cramping did go away after a couple hours.

We went and cleaned out the van yesterday and took pics, the insurance company is picking it up today and taking it down to Indianapolis where their storage facility is and I'm hoping we'll hear something by Monday. When I talked to the adjuster she said from the sounds of it, it will most likely be totalled. Either way we're screwed, we owe more than what the van is worth. I know that it could have been so much worse, had Rich not been home I would have had all 5 kids with me and I guarantee they would have been hurt, especially Ashlyn. I knew the impact was coming so I braced myself, there's no way the kids could have. I'm still really upset over the whole thing though, this was the First nice vehicle i've ever had and now some jackass that doesn't know how to drive in the snow has taken that away from me and I can't get it back!

Anyway here's pics: http://s198.photobucket.com/albums/aa283/stillcrazymama/van%20damage/

Midwife appt.

Had my monthly check up today. b/p was fine, weight went down (131@ first appt, 135 @ 2nd and now today 133), my heartrate is normal which indicates the weightloss is not thyroid related, but most likely just due to constant chasing after a very active 14 month old. Belly is measuring fine so she's not concerned. Was offered the quad screen (afp screen) which I declined as usual, no biggie. She gave me a list of area doula's to check into, I'm really hoping to have one this time.

Talked to her about the tailbone pain and she referred me to a chiropractor which I will see tomorrow and HOPEfully finally get some relief. Where I pointed out the pain, she said it seems more like my lower spine just above the tailbone rather than the tailbone itself.

My next midwife appt is Jan 15th at noon but more exciting......my ultrasound is that same day at 10 a.m. :) Rich is still trying to talk me out of finding out the sex, but he's not getting very far lol.

Guess that's about it........oh baby's heartrate was 160 which is about what it always is at home too.

17 weeks....

So I'm late on the update as usual lol. I'm 17 weeks 3 days today. Belly is really poppin out there. Tailbone pain so bad that I dread each new day. I go to the midwife on Tuesday so HOPEfully she can offer up Some sort of relief. At this point, I'm willing to try Anything.

Not much else going on. Good a good bit of snow last night with more on the way. Took kids today for pictures and that was a nightmare.

I've got a ham going in the slowcooker which sure does smell good :)

And can you believe.......only 9 days til Christmas!!! ugh, that means only 16 days til I turn 31 lol.

16 weeks....

I know, I'm late on this update. I'm actually 16 weeks 4 days today. And am totally Blah!!! I have some sort of stomach bug that has kept me in the bathroom almost all day. Having a 3 yr old and 1 yr old home all day when mom is either sitting or kneeling at the toilet..........well let's just say the kids ARE still alive so that's a good thing lol.

The good news, I'm feeling the baby all the time now :) As of about 3 days ago I noticed that every time I sit still for a minute or 2 I can feel him/her tapping away in there. Still taps, not quite kicks but not flutters either. Feeling a bit of rolling here n there too. He/She doesn't stay in one spot either, very active little one :)

This tail bone pain just continues to get worse, and now when I move not only does it feel like someone stabbing me in the tail bone, but now the pain shoots down my butt cheek too. It's hard, It takes everything I have sometimes not to yell out in pain, especially when I pick up Ashlyn (who is now around 23 lbs). I see the midwife next Tuesday so will talk to her about it but I'm doubting there's much I can do.

On another note........I think the time has come when I will have to slowly start weaning Ashlyn down to comfort nursing only (naptime/bedtime). I really truly do not want to, but it's becoming to much and breastfeeding is becoming less and less enjoyable right now. I have the constant sore nipples from the pregnancy hormones, plus she will not lay still unless she is tired so our nursing sessions consist of her pulling her head back and stretching my nipple way further than it's meant to go, she pinches and scratches, has bit me several times this past week, etc. I'm not planning to wean her completely, I feel her and I still need that time together, but with how often she still nurses it's just becoming too much for me. I want to continue thinking of breastfeeding as the beautiful and enjoyable thing it truly is, but if I keep letting this go on for much longer I fear I will really start to hate it and then the new baby might miss out. I'm going to start offering her the sippy cup more often and see how it goes. I definitely won't force her to stop, will just offer some options and hope that she takes them at her own free will. I feel guilty and selfish, but at the same time very proud of the time that i've nursed her. So anyway, we'll see what happens with that.

Sorry this got so long, off to bed now.

Friends.....

Through my years I've had many friends, some have been true friends, others have proved otherwise.

Today most of my friends are not those who I know in person, but those who i have met online. Some of them have proven to be true friends, as well as others otherwise. So here is my definition of friends.

A True Friend:

-she gives you honest advice when you're in need, even if it isn't the answer you wanted to hear.
-she lifts you up when you are down, and will never put you down.
-she sits there and listens to your problems, even though she may have bigger problems of her own.
-she laughs at you for being stupid lol, and cries when you are sweet
-she knows when something is wrong, and tries to help you through it
-she instant messages you a little smiley just to let you know she's there
-she keeps your secrets secret
---ok well there's lots more to true friends, just naming off some things that one of my greatest friends does lol. You know who you are =)

A not so true friend:

-will lie to you about stupid things
-only calls or im's when she needs something or wants to complain and thinks what you are going through is far less important
-when life is good, ya never hear from her, but when life is bad its a different story.
-doesn't repect your morals or beliefs
----the list goes on here too. If your an 'untrue' friend then you know who you are too.

So anyway..............just wanted to get that out :)