Flowers

Yesterday afternoon, Chase and I were playing in the front yard and he did the sweetest thing. Chase picked me my very first bouquet of flowers. He would study the flowers in the yard and pick only the ones he liked. Then he would bring them to me and tell me to smell the flowers. I asked if they were for me, and he replied with a very sweet, "Yes"!

Not sure if it's the hormones out of control or what, but I started to tear up. It was just too heartwarming to hold it in. I just love this kid!

Any Advice?

Chase has never been a late sleeper in the morning, but he usually wakes up between 6:30 and 7:00. However, this past week he has been waking up VERY early. For 5 straight mornings he has woken up before 5:30 and this morning he woke up at 4:45.

I tried letting him cry in his room, but after 30 minutes, his cry sounded like he was terrified and I couldn't bare it anymore. I tried laying in his bed with him or offering to let him come lay down with us for a little while, but he wants no part of that. As soon as I open his door, he jumps out of his bed and runs out of his room asking for juice and breakfast. But I know he's not starving b/c he doesn't really eat most of it until later on in the morning.

And to make matters worse, he will no longer take a nap for me. He has figured out how to open his door, so 15 mintues after we put him down for a nap, he runs out ready to play.

I have no idea what to do. Both mommy and Chase are very sleep deprived and it makes for some tough afternoons and evenings.

Does anyone have any advice or suggestions? Please tell me this is just a phase!

Christmas Morning videos

Chase gave us a difficult time Christmas morning. He didn't want to come out of his room and threw a bit of a fit when I tried to get him to come see if Santa visited our house. I finally convinced him with breakfast (where he requests french fries) and as soon as he saw his toys, there was a bit of an attitude adjustment. Gotta love the terrible twos!

30 weeks!

As promised, here is my 30 week progression picture. It's offical...I've popped! I had no idea how much I grew until I looked at these comparison pictures. I feel like my stomach can't stretch anymore or it will burst open. The brethine has me constantly out of breath and my varicose veins cause me to waddle a little so I'm sure I'm a sight to see, he-he.

As of this week, I am now offically a full time stay at home mom. It's such a strange feeling to me, but we made the right decision for our family.

Shane says I've been a bit cranky lately, but I attribute that to my total lack of sleep at night. He would be cranky too :-)

Today's massive progression at 30 weeks....I'm HUGE!!!


At 25 weeks:

Yard Work

Yesterday Chase decided that he wanted to help his Daddy cut the grass. He tried so hard to keep up the pace and go in the same pattern...it was absolutely adorable!

We're still here

I know it's been a while since our last post, but we've been busy with the holidays and I'm wrapping things up at work training the girl who will be taking my place. That's right, my last official day is Wednesday. I went to part time work (2 days a week) after I had Chase and really enjoyed my two days out of the house with adult interaction. But the mornings I work are very difficult in our house getting everyone ready and out on time, and adding one more to the equation doesn't seem to make it any easier. Plus, Shane's job is very demanding, so we thought it would be easier on our family if I gave the full time stay at home mommy thing a try.

Things here are going well. I am still having contractions, but now I'm on the brethine every 6 hours so I only have a few contractions a day which okay. Still trying to take it easy, but that's nearly impossible with our little Chase Man!

Chase's conversion to the big boy bed was extremely easy for us. We lucked out! He sleeps all night long in his bed and calls for us in the morning when he wakes up. He doesn't get out of his bed until we open his door in the morning...it's so funny!

Last weekend while we were putting the Christmas decorations back in the attic, we started to pull out the baby stuff in preparation for our little peanut. Chase loves sitting in the baby's car seat and baby swing. He gets really excited when I put on the lights. I think he's more into now than he was as a baby :-)

Chase's two favorite activites are playing with his trains and train table and golf clubs (which ends up being more like hockey). He plays sports left handed but holds crayons with his right hand. Shane is the exact opposite...so funny!

I will be 30 weeks pregnant next week, so we're 75% there. I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel :-) Progression picture with major growth to come next week....

Merry Christmas!

Rough Week

Where to begin...

Monday morning I woke up feeling horrible and began running a high fever of 102. I assumed I had the flu. By Tuesday I was hurting all over my entire body and my fever wasn't breaking. So I called my OB/GYN and she urged me to go see my primary care physician because they were uncomfortable with me running the high fever.

I ended up going to the Urgent Care near my house. SEVERAL blood test, swab tests and an ultrasound of my legs plus another full day later, we find out that I do not have the flu nor mono nor a blood clot in my legs. My white blood cell count is high and all they can figure is that I have some nasty infection that is still causing me to have this high fever 4 days in a row. They give me some antibotics and things start feeling better quickly.

However, last night I noticed that my stomach kept tightening for brief periods with a slight pressure in my lower abdomen. After talking to Shane and my sister who used to work in L&D, I finally decided to go to the ER just to make sure I wasn't having any contractions. I didn't even drive out to Slidell where I plan to deliver and where my doctor is located. I just went to the hospital right by my house because at 26 weeks, I was sure they were going to laugh at me and send me home.

When they hooked me up to the monitors, we found out that I was in preterm labor, having contractions every 2-6 minutes and was 1 cm dilated. The contractions became more regular while I was there, but the on call doctor assured me that I wasn't going to have the baby that night and he thought it would be best if I went to see my doctor first thing the next morning and was under her care.

So today my mom took me to my doctor’s office in Slidell where they immediately sent us to the hospital. Same situation, I was still having contractions and still dilated 1 cm. They monitored baby and me for a while and then decided to give me a shot of Breathine (sp?) to slow/cease the contractions. Thirty minutes later they gave me a second shot of the same medicine. Thirty minutes later they gave me the oral pill version of the same medicine and monitored baby and me for 2 more hours.

I only had about 2-3 more contractions since the first shot, so I seemed to be responding to the medicine pretty well. The main concern was my heart rate, but as long as it stays under 130 I’m okay.

So I was sent home with strict instructions to take this same medicine every four hours around the clock (yes, I have to set my alarm at night to take this pill that makes me wired). They said their goal is to get me to 36 weeks, but we’ll just take it one week at a time and that I really need to rest and take it easy.

I don’t know if I’m just naïve, but I really thought I was going to get one shot and then everything was going to be better. I had no idea how serious this was. But for now, baby and me are doing great and we’re going to take things slow. Shane and I are going to have a little talk with our peanut tonight on why he needs to stay in my belly for a few more months :-)

The good news is that they said the baby was responding well to my contractions and he was still very active...he's such a strong boy!

Phew, I think (and pray) that's it for a while!

P.S. Thank you so much to my loving family for all of your help this week. Shane was on total daddy patrol, my mom drove me and stayed with me for all of my doctor's and hospital visits and Shane's mom watched Chase for me several days. And my sister Lindsey was the one who finally talked me into going to the hospital in the first place (early enoguh to stop the contractions before I dilated anymore). I really could not have gotten through this week without all of you! I love you!

25 Weeks!

With all the craziness of the snow yesterday, I forgot to take my 25 week progression picture. So here I am at 25 weeks and 1 day :-) I compared it to my 26 progression picture with Chase and I am carrying much higher this time. Both babies are boys, but I'm carrying so different this time (and I've gained a lot more weight this pregnancy)!

I feel pretty good with the exception of some circulation issues and back spasms. I have a little bit of more energy during the day, but I am horizontal by 9:00 most nights. My belly gets bigger and bigger every single day! Shane loves to rub my belly and Chase is constantly covering it up if Shane lifts my shirt to see it.

The other day, our friends Christy, Conner and Mary Frances Bourg stopped by for a visit. Mary Frances is about to have her first birthday. I picked her up and sat her on my lap, and Chase immediately responded with, "NO, that MY Mamma"! Uh-Oh! We may be in trouble.

As for the snow, it stopped snowing yesterday around noon. It snowed for 5 straight hours and our yard is still covered in snow today. Chase ran out this morning and asked me to take his picture in the snow. I guess he knows the drill.

25 weeks pregnant with Peanut:

26 weeks pregnant with Moosehead (Chase):

Chase playing in the snow this morning:

Chase's 1st Snow!!!!

We woke up this morning to a snow day (thanks mom for the early morning phone call)! It's so crazy to look out my windows and see the snow falling like this! I've never seen it snow this heavy around here. It's so awesome!
Here is a video of Chase playing in the snow and some cute pics to follow: