30 Weeks!

I'm 3/4ths of the way done!! Woo Hoo!  Less than 10 weeks to go!  It has all gone by really quickly and slowly at the same time.  Sometimes I'm surprised that it's already 30 weeks and sometimes I feel like I've been pregnant for years now.  My belly is getting really big and round and Jacob feels like he's going to break me sometimes.  Like he's trying to bust out with all of his stretching. He gets the hiccups often but usually only when laying right on my bladder so it feels like I'm about to wet myself with every hiccup.  I'm getting really tired and it's hard to get around.  It is becoming impossible to get a good nights sleep.  Either Jacob is really active or I'm just really uncomfortable or have to potty.  I've been getting a lot of head aches lately. I'm not sure what thats all about. 

Today I have a Dr's appt this afternoon, so ill update you after the appointment but I don't think this one will be too eventful.  Then after this appointment I start going every 2 weeks until 36 weeks. Then I go every week until the baby comes.  I feel like this part is going to whip by and I'm not sure if I want it to or not with all the projects we want to get done around the house! We have some painting we want to do and change out some fixtures in the bathrooms.  So we're on the clock to get this all done and the nursery done and set up before the baby comes. SO... if you're sitting around looking for some manual labor, come on over any weekend! we'll put you to work!

Colin has been really good and really cute lately. His vocabulary is just really growing by leaps and bounds.  It's so fun watching him connect the dots on how things work.  Sometimes he really amazes me. I'm so excited to see how he reacts to his baby brother coming.  I ask him now if he wants Jacob to go nite-nite at our house soon.  He always says no. haha! So I guess we'll see. 

I have a little shower coming up on April 6th that I'm excited for. Not that we need all that much stuff, but excited to get most of my friends together one last time before the baby comes and I become a zombie with dirty hair covered in spit up. 

29 weeks

Well the nursery is finally painted and Cameron did a really good job. Now we need to get the furniture put together and things put away. I'm excited to get things where they belong and the appliqués put up on the walls. I need to get some things to get the nursery more homey looking but all in all we have most of what we need, just need to get it together.

We've gotten some good responses to the name we have chosen. Seems like people really like it. And Colin is already getting familiar with the name. He points to my tummy and says Jake or baby Jake.

Speaking of Colin. He is just a little sponge lately. In just a few months he has gone from having a limited vocabulary to knowing his colors, knowing many animals (even some I didn't know! Haha) , most shapes and even counting to 10! He is getting better with his letters too. He's going to be mommy's little genius when he goes to preschool in the fall. I can't remember if I updated everyone on preschool by the way. He got a spot but its only 2 days a week, so we have him on the wait list for 3 days a week but I feel confident we'll get the 3 day/wk program because we're only second on the waiting list.

The baby is doing great (I assume since he hasn't been protesting too much). According to my 'What to expect' app the baby didn't grow much this week in size but his brain is doing some big development this week. My next appointment is next Thursday on the 28th. And I'll update you on that. I've been feeling pretty good. I've been eating really well and not feeling too tired but the weight of the belly is really affecting my pelvis area. Sleep is becoming more uncomfortable and I wake up constantly with aches and pains in my hips and pelvis. I can't sit too long or stand too long or lay too long. Basically can't be in one position for than a couple hours. And I definitely have a waddle.

I finally got my results from my docs office about the fragile X and I don't have it or carry it. So that was a lot of trouble but gives me great peace of mind for my family.

See you all next week :)

28 Weeks- Valentine's Day!

Today is Valentine's Day! I was so excited to let Colin pick out his Valentines he wanted to give out and help him put them together.  He picked Cars. and he made one for his sitter Angie and her daughters.  He still didn't really get it, but he thought it was fun giving them the Valentines and suckers that came with it.  Tomorrow night Cameron and I are going to dinner at an Italian restaurant and a movie.  Very cliche but we don't get out that much, so we are VERY excited!

We got Colin a balance bike this week.  Its a bike with no petals.  Apparently it's the newest thing in learning to ride a bike.  It teaches them balance on their own pace.  He hasn't been able to try it yet because it's been too cold but this weekend is supposed to be nice so hopefully I'll be able to get him out there on it and riding. I'll try to remember to post a picture or video.

As far as the baby goes. He is getting very strong!  He is pushing and twisting and turning with some pretty good force in my stomach.  Sometimes he likes to wedge himself crossways in my belly and stretch out, causing mommy to wince in pain because it feels like he's going to poke through my belly. Like he's trying to bust out early, haha!  Other than that everything seems pretty normal.  Every little bit I grow is just that much more uncomfortable I get but I know I still have a while of growing to go, so I should be thankful for any comfort I have now. 

My doctors office is becoming very aggravating. I don't feel like my doctor takes me very seriously, but I do know she has a lot of patients and my symptoms are probably normal.  But this is all important to me, even the little stuff. But what really annoys me is not the doctor- but her STAFF! They are all so nice and cheery and know my name and excitedly all chime- hello Ashley! when they see me and give me that- 'aaww you're so cute and pregnant' look. But I'd rather have non-lovey people who do their jobs correctly the first time.  They have lost my paperwork with important info on it like my medical history and social security number.  They never seems to know whats going on or where I stand in this process ever. Someone asks me every single time I'm in there if I'm 'the teacher'.  I guess there's another Ashley that's a teacher and pregnant. I went in for my glucose testing, I had already drank my drink the 30 minutes before my appointment. Set my watch like they wanted me to so it's exact. I get there and wait (which I'm not supposed to because the timing has to be exact). I get called back and wait some more.  Then the nurse pops in and hands me a new bottle of drink and says- 'Next time will be your glucose test!'. I told her, no today is my glucose test so she had to hurry the woman who takes the blood in there to get the test done on time.  Well, at that glucose screening I also had them test for Fragile X.  I'm not really worried that I have it but it has ran in my family so I wanted to know for sure so I can KNOW that Colin or baby2 will not have it or carry it to pass on.  If I don't have it- they don't have it or carry it. So that was 5 weeks ago.  My friend also was tested for fragile X and she received her results in 2 weeks.  I called my doctors office last week and they said the results had been mailed. I called today and the nurse says she can't find any results and that sometimes things don't get scanned in properly upfront.  Well that's not good enough for me when I'm am having special testing.  If I hadn't asked would anyone have ever noticed that my results never came in? And also, where are my results? Sitting around in a bin? Thrown away with the junk mail? Once again my personal information is just missing and floating out there somewhere. Also, LabCorp has already billed me $113 for this test.  I don't have the results but the bills have no problem finding their way to me.  I'm just frustrated with their office and ready to stop relying on them.  The nurse said she would call LabCorp because I should have already had the results. So I guess we'll see if she ever calls me back.

Ok- is everyone ready for their Valentine's Day present?!!? We have finally decided on a name. After much debate, eye-rolling, lists, advice, input, internet searches and a few tears we have come to an agreement. 

Drumroll.............
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Jacob Gibson Chisolm

Like it? Great! Don't like it? doesn't matter- the discussion has now been closed! haha! and I'm relieved. 

Have a great Valentine's Day!  Love you all!

28 weeks appointment

This was a really quick and easy appointment. They said that the glucose screening results were normal. The results from the fragile x syndrome aren't in yet because they were mailed to the office. So hopefully I'll know the results of that next time. The heart beat was completely normal, and she didn't measure my belly this time. I was in and out in less than 20 minutes total so a pretty uneventful appointment. She says she wants to see me back in 3 weeks. So I made an appointment for February 28. So we'll get our next update on baby then!

27 Weeks- 3RD TRIMESTER!

My belly is growing by leaps and bounds.  I feel like i'm getting huge and I have a decent amount of time left to go! The baby is moving like crazy.  I can tell he's getting stronger and bigger just by the way my belly morphs into different shapes all day or how a certain kick or flip will stop me cold in my tracks because it is so strong.  This week on my pregnancy app it says the baby is the size of a head of cauliflower, 16 inches long and should weigh 2.5 lbs. And according to my due date I have 12 weeks and 5 days to go.  AND i'm in my THIRD TRIMESTER! Woo Hoo! 2/3rds done! I read that babies who are born this week have a good prognosis because their lungs have reached the point of maturity, so that makes me sigh a big breath of relief! But i'm sure this baby has no plans on moving out anytime soon. 

So this week I have been waddling around, but not because of baby (mostly).  It is because I am so SORE from helping Cameron build Colin's playset! On Saturday we worked on it for 4 hours and on Sunday we worked on it for nearly 7!  By Monday morning I could barely walk and was worn out! But Colin loves it. He was so happy and excited. He loves to jump on the little trampeline that is a part of it. He saw if for the first time on Sunday and on Monday he ran to the window to look out to make sure it was still there.  I think this is going to provide a lot of entertainment for him when we're stuck in the house a lot with the new baby.  And Cameron did  a great job for never having really done a project like this.  Now he feels like a professional carpenter. :) Below is the address to see a video of Colin seeing his playset for the first time.  Also, I have my own youtube channel.  just search for my name with no spaces- ashleychisolm. I upload videos of Colin almost every week.  just cute funny short little clips of him doing cute things.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLA9ex2Ar6s&list=UUvFR0GbfrfFSHZ6kJFG-dDw&index=1

I think this weekend we may work on painting the nursery.  I think i'll go today and look at paint colors.  I was supposed to do that this weekend but the playset totally took up all my energy and time.  My appliques came in the mail that will go on the walls so i'm ready to get it all up and looking good. I feel like once we get that walls painted we can start putting together everything else and place furniture around the room. 

So we're also supposed to be working on potty training with Colin before baby 2 comes. But I keep putting it off because of other projects, like the playset, painting, weekend trips, etc.  But I think i'm starting to realize that I just really don't know where to start.  Like i'm literally lost on the first step! Do I put underwear on him and wait for him to pee? Do I put him on the potty first and wait for him to pee then put underwear on him? Should I start on a weekend or have Angie -his sitter- start with him on a Monday when his routine is more set?  And then I envision how much extra time everything is going to take during this process and how that is going to get everyones schedules off balance for a while. But he HAS to be potty trainined before he starts preschool in the fall.  That's a requirement.   It's just a big daunting task that i'm not looking forward to. I need to just pull the trigger and start.  Just do it... After I paint this weekend, haha.

So on Thursday we have the lottery enrollment for Colin's preschool, so lets hope his number gets pulled so we can cross one thing off the check list.  Then Thursday afternoon I have a doctors appointment to check on the baby.  It should be pretty simple.  My doctor does the 'no news is good news' tactic when it comes to tests so I assume that my glucose screening looked fine.  But ill ask for sure when I go in.  I also had myself tested for Fragile X Syndrome and I never heard anything back about that so i'll ask about that as well.  Speaking of testing, I'm so grateful for insurance or we would really be in trouble, but even with insurance, having a baby is expensive!  We keep getting medical bills in the mail just about the time I think we shouldnt be getting anymore! $300 for the down syndrome and trisomy testing. $600 to our OB. $500 for the time I went to the ER and he told me to eat 2 bananas a day-gggggggggrrrrrrrrrrrr.  Right now we have a neat tiny stack of not so tiny bills sitting on the counter totaling nearly a thousand dollars.  Lovely! But like I said- it would be SO much more if we didnt have insurance so I am thankful to have a job that provides that. 

I'll update again after Thursday and let everyone know how the appointment went and if Colin's # was drawn at the preschool lottery. Thanks for reading!