Children’s Museum!

Posted on February 25, 2009

So, I’ve got winter blues, and I’m really really pregnant and miserable. I’m SOO ready for spring!! We all had a bad case of cabin fever and I figured, I only have 2 weeks left (at most) to spend with Ava as an only child. So, I had heard that Frankfort has their own little children’s museum. It was so great! It was $5 for Ava and they had 2 floors of great kids learning toys and things. They had learning toys and games, a craft area with everything from paper to glitter to feathers, everything. They had easels set up and a reading section. They even had a little aquarium area with lizards and snakes and frogs and all kinds of fun creepy things. Ava had a blast. She did NOT want to leave. We are probably going to make this a weekly hang out spot. Plus, the museum was located in this rustic little mini-mall with local businesses, and they had a deli, a candy and ice cream shop and a few other local businesses. We stopped and had some ice cream in the shoppe there. It was just a really nice day and it really helped with my cabin fever/preggo/winter blues. And of course I got a billion pics. Enjoy!


She actually touched a snake!

I don’t know what this face is, but it cracks me up!





She wanted rainbow sherbert, but apparently, daddy’s mint chocolate chip was better.

Giving me a snuggle bunny nose nudge!





Sibling rivalry already

Posted on February 21, 2009

The baby hasn’t even gotten here and she and Ava are already fighting over space. Ava co-slept with us when she was an infant all the way until she was about 6 months or so. We put her in her crib after that and she stayed put until she was able to get out. When she was about two years old, we took the side rail off her crib and then she would come down in the middle of the night to climb in bed with us. It didn’t really bother us too much. Except when she wasn’t in a snuggle mood and she would much rather kick and thrash in the middle of the night. Most of the time though, she would snuggle and it’s been nice. She’s still coming down now. I do love snuggling with her, but with this belly getting bigger and bigger and with the fact that I have a hard time getting comfortable and being able to sleep anyway, this is getting really hard. A couple times I’ve had to go sleep on the couch. We have a queen sized bed and Todd takes up half, Ava takes up 1/4th and I get the last 1/4th. If I was a size 2 preggo this would be fine. But my rear takes up about the same amount of room as my belly. There is NO room. I’ve been trying to get Ava to stay up in her room all night, and sometimes it works. But sometimes she puts on the water works and she’s had a bad dream and she’s scared, so it’s hard just leaving her in there when she wants to be near you. So it’s already a struggle.

Now lets add a tiny little problem to that. This little sister of hers is going to be taking up her spot very soon. We will be co-sleeping with this one too, mainly because we have to. We don’t have a nursery for her, so she’ll have her bassinet in our room and she will co-sleep as well until we move. So, I’m seeing the jealousy start immediately. I’m not sure how this is going to work. But I’m praying it will without too much hassle. I feel bad for Ava especially because I don’t want her to feel like she’s being put aside. Ugh. I’m dreading that part.




Pregnancy update!

Posted on February 13, 2009

Less than a month left!! I’m getting excited, but I still have a lot to do yet. I’d like to get my maternity pics done, and I’d really like the kitchen and bathroom done before she comes. Other than that, there’s a lot of little things, but those are my wants. Not that she’s going to pay attention to that! I’m feeling pretty good today. I have my good days and my bad days. Some days it’s extremely hard to walk or get up from sitting or laying down. The pain can really be excruciating. Some days, like today, it’s not so bad. I can function without gasping and grunting and feeling like a complete woos. 

Yesterday morning I had some contractions. They were 10 minutes apart for about 4 hours, but then they went away. I guess I’m preparing for the real thing. With Ava it was 5 weeks of that. I kept thinking I was going into labor. It was so frustrating. Now, with these, I know they aren’t the real thing. They don’t hurt anywhere near what the real things do. I really think there are 3 types of contractions. Braxton Hicks are the ones where there is no pain, they just tighten my belly up near the top and they last for about 10-20 seconds. Then there are the ones that I was experiencing yesterday. They are low, slightly painful, they last for about 20-30 seconds and they feel like menstrual cramps. Then there are the real ones. Those hurt like hell, they feel like menstrual cramps x100, and they last for about 30 seconds or more. They are consistent and they get worse with time and they get closer together. They say those ones actually produce results, meaning dilation, but it’s not exactly like I can check my own cervix for that. (Sorry…I come from a family with a few medical professionals. We talk about fallopian tubes at the dinner table.) 
So, with about three and a half weeks left, it’s getting close. They say the second baby comes faster than the first. Ava came 4 hours after her due date. I honestly don’t mind if this one waits until then too. With Ava I wanted her out so badly. Eviction day couldn’t come fast enough. With this one, I want to meet her, but I’m also not anxious for the change that I know will come. I’m not excited about the late nights, about the crying, about the baby blues. I’m nervous about how Ava will react to this little thing who is taking all the attention and time away from her. So, she can take her time. I really don’t mind. I can even say I’ll take the pain for a little while longer.
I look my 36 week picture yesterday and when I compared it to my 32 week, I have definitely dropped! I feel like I’ve gained 100lbs, but I’ve only gained 16! With Ava, it was 15. And then I lost 25. But, then I gained it all back. I’m determined to lose the weight and keep it off after this one. I’ve been eating a lot healthier, less processed food and more of the good stuff. I don’t really eat very much, so hopefully I can keep that up. But, as for now, looking at that picture, I really think I’ve dropped. Her head is directly behind my pubic bone and some days I wonder if she’s trying to break my bag. It’s fun to watch my belly move around with her little workouts. I hope to get it on video, but she’s camera shy. As soon as I turn it on, she stops. She does that if anyone touches my belly too. Here’s the comparison shot for you:

This waiting, end game thing is a little nerve racking though. An induction date sounds wonderful, but I don’t really want to do that. I’d rather wait until she decides to come out. The induction date would just be for my own sanity. I just hate waiting and wondering and speculating. I just want to know. My ideal would be breaking my water (in the bathroom of course) and knowing “Ok! It’s time!” But that happens to about 10% of women in pregnancy. With Ava, they had to break my water, and give me pitocin. Essentially inducing me, but I was already 3cm and I was having contractions. We’ll see what happens this time around. 
So, overall, I’m pretty calm about it all. I’m getting a little nervous and nesting and wondering when. But, not like I was with Ava. I still feel bad with how I was with Ava. I was a monster…I just couldn’t stand the pain or the false labor or the waiting and wondering. But with this one, I don’t know. I feel like it’s not in my hands anyway, so why freak out? It’s (probably) the last time I’ll be pregnant, so I’d like to just enjoy it for the last month. She’ll come. 




Twinkle Toes

Posted on February 11, 2009

Surprisingly, I LOVE being a mom to a girly girl!!





Massage

Posted on February 7, 2009

Todd bought me a package of 3 massages in 3 months for this massage chain for Christmas. I’ve had two of the massages and I go back for my last one in two weeks. The first one was fantastic. It was a female and she had these foam pad things specifically for pregnant women. She was pretty thorough and she gave me a great deep massage. I requested her for my appointment yesterday but I had to call to let them know I was going to be about 10 minutes late. They told me they had to put me in the next time slot. Not a big deal. So I’m sitting in the waiting room reading and this guy comes out of the back room. The receptionist says “Oh, Dave, your 4:00 prenatal is here.” I stopped mid sentence. I didn’t look up or anything, I just pretended to read while I figured out what was going on. There were no other preggos in the room. And Dave is a man. Ok. Why they didn’t let me know or ask me is beyond me, but ok. I’m not going to freak out. It’s his job, right? I can do this. But then of course I start thinking about stupid things like, “Oh.my.god I wore my granny panties.” and “I did shave, right?”  I texted Todd with a quick “OMG ITS A MAN!” just to let him know and he replied with a “LOL! Have FUN!!”  So, after being a little nervous for about 10 minutes, I decided to relax and just enjoy it. He really did a great job. The other girl was better, she knew exactly where my pain was without me telling her. The guy just kinda massaged everywhere. The baby started kicking a lot when he was massaging my sides, and he thought that was pretty cool. But he did a fantastic job on my neck. Like, I would definitely go back to him during the middle of wedding season vs going to my chiropractor. Of course my husband asked me “Sooo? How was your… ‘massage’?” Oh jeez…  Anyway, I just thought it was kind of a funny new experience. I’m normally not modest at all, so I just had to get over my temporary moment of shyness.





I can do it myself!

Posted on February 5, 2009

Those are the words that have been coming out of Ava’s mouth for quite a while. She is a pretty independent child. She likes to do everything and anything all by herself. She really likes the recognition she gets for it and she loves being a “big girl.” She rarely asks for help when she knows she can do it. She can put her clothes on and take them off, including shoes and socks. She can let Samson in and out. She can unbuckle herself from her car seat (working on buckling). She can load a DVD into the player and press play when the menu comes up. She can put her dishes in the sink. She frequently will get the milk out and bring it to you if she is thirsty. That one is usually because we’re not fast enough for her. It can be really great sometimes, except when you really don’t want her to do something at that very moment. It’s funny. There are so many things she can do on her own, yet she has to be told several times to clean her messes. Curious. Well, when she can do dishes and laundry and edit pictures and order reprints, I’ll be really impressed! ;)

Oh, and she can get her goldfish down from the shelf in the pantry. We actually put all her favorite things up on that shelf so she wouldn’t be able to reach them. Hmm….




It’s nice to have options! 2 more weeks left?!

Posted on February 4, 2009

I went in for my 35 week appointment today. Talked to my doc about my fainting and my SPD. I’m feeling ok, but the SPD is really starting to take a toll on me. He said the fainting is most likely hypoglycemia and that I just need to balance my sugar intake with proteins. But when he saw how I was walking and how much pain I’m in with the SPD, he basically told me that if by 37 weeks I’m in unbearable pain, that they would check to see how the baby’s lungs are developing (how do they do that?!) and possibly induce me. Man, if they told me that when I was pregnant with Ava, I would have said “YES! Get her out!!” But with this one, I really want to wait and see. I’m not really ready for her and the idea of two weeks scares the heck out of me. I’d really like to wait until I actually go into labor. But then, the idea of not wanting to cry when I put on my pants sounds beautiful. I guess we’ll see how I feel in two weeks. But, options are great!







copyright 2010 Christina Ragusin