34 Weeks

How far along: 34 weeks
Total weight gain: ?
Favourite clothes: PJs
Sleeping: Horribly
Best Moment: My mom getting here, and G going absolutely nuts
Worst Moment: I've been sick all week, but we've been running around all week
Miss anything: I would really love a glass of wine
Cravings: Nothing out of the ordinary, really
New symptoms: Same old, same old. Contractions and fatigue
Looking forward to: The ultrasound on Thursday
Crafting: Gotta finish up the cupcake hats, and hopefully work on some of the other projects

Sunday was the last day of camp! There was a luncheon that all the parents were invited to. G and I stayed for a while, but he was really fussy and tired. James helped me get him home, but James spent the rest of Sunday and all of Monday cleaning up camp and wrapping up any final details. I started feeling sick on Monday, but there's no rest for the mother of a toddler.

The rest of the week was spent pretty much the same way. James was home, which was great, and we spent the days running around to various home improvement stores, picking up light fixtures, sinks, faucets, medicine cabinets, stain for the stairs, etc. On Wednesday, some of the windows were installed and it turns out one of the windows was 1 inch too small to fit. So now Lowe's is having to fight with the manufacturer, and either way we're waiting on a new window to be made. Each side says they had the correct measurements, so who knows where the breakdown in communications was.

Wednesday we also met with the woman who's doing the placenta encapsulation. She seems nice, and gave us a brief description of how it would go. I'm looking forward to it and hoping that it'll help with the healing and energy and milk and keeping PPD at bay. Since we were already in Pensacola, we were able to return the extra flooring we had and pick up T-molds and some more unfinished maple for the stairs. We were also able to drive a little farther and meet James' parents for lunch. It was good to see them, and James' dad brought the trailer, which will be very helpful for moving from camp.

Thursday the appliances were delivered and the cabinets installed. The doors and drawers are going to be added on Monday along with the bathroom vanity. The countertops probably won't be installed until next weekend, unless there's a cancellation. I'm really not sure about when we're moving, or if we can stay at camp til the house is completely done, but it'll work out I'm sure. Friday was more of the same, but James had a baseball game to go to in Pensacola that night. Originally, G and I were going to join him, but by Friday I was put on antibiotics and G had started coughing too. I sounded like Christian Bale's batman. I should've recorded myself reading G's books to him with that voice. We were both beat and he went down pretty easily for me, though I spent a few hours passed out on his bed before I woke up and headed to bed myself.

Saturday was definitely great. It was relatively chill. My mom arrived around noon and G was so excited. He just started bouncing off the walls! He'd had a half a grilled cheese for lunch (first time) and he was just so psyched. It was hard to get him down for his nap, but he did nap. I rested while Mom and James unloaded the mini van she was driving into the trailer (see, very useful!) We drove to the Pensacola airport to drop off the minivan and had dinner at Bonefish Grill (YUM!) G did pretty well, though he did get fussy toward the end. Our meal was comped because they really messed up our order, which was a nice surprise and a really nice gesture on their part. G fell asleep in the car on the way home and was out cold pretty quickly from such a full day! I am so grateful that my mom can be here to help us move and help out once the baby arrives. G has loved having her here already, and she will be so helpful as my energy and patience seem to continue getting lower and shorter. Only 45 days left!!!

34 weeks: Mermaid is the size of a bridled parrotfish
G wanted to make some additions to this week's chalkboard

This is being honest about which pants I'm usually in ;)
Mom swears my bump is already sticking out an inch more than when she got here a few days ago

33 Weeks

How far along: 33 weeks
Total weight gain: +16 lbs
Favourite clothes: Do blankets count as clothing?
Sleeping: Terribly
Best Moment: Hearing Mermaid's heartbeat
Worst Moment: Migraines
Miss anything: A dishwasher
Cravings: Sushi, nutella
New symptoms: Heartburn is back, contractions still strong
Looking forward to: So many things! 1) Camp being OVER 2) Having my hubby back 3) Mom arriving next week! 4) Meeting the person who will be encapsulating the placenta
Crafting: Finishing up the prototype cupcake hat (first item for sale maybe?), and the wave blanket. Mom is bringing some yarn to try for the cupcake hat (the one I had didn't work out)

You know your weeks are long and busy when you can't remember specific things from less than a week ago. I'm going to assume the days that I can't remember were relatively uneventful. Like Sunday and Tuesday.

I had signed G up for all 5 days of daycare this week. I spent all Monday morning running errands, and didn't even manage to finish everything. 4 hours of errands is way more exhausting that it used to be. Despite having a good day at daycare, G ended up clingy, tantrum-y and refused to sleep. I ended up falling asleep in his bed trying to get him to sleep and woke up with his face literally on top of mine, my arm asleep at 11 pm. I still had to do dishes, fold laundry and cook something for his lunch the next day. I was washing dishes at 1:30 am and James had just gotten home and was taking a shower. I heard him say something to me, but couldn't understand what, so I stopped washing dishes, and went to the door, where I heard James tell me there was a spider on the floor. Sure enough, there it was by my foot. I'm surprised my scream didn't wake G up. I was so irrationally mad at James for making me kill the spider (he was just getting out of the shower) and we finally ended up going to bed at 2 am. I knew how ridiculous I was being, and that made me decide that I definitely need to put some more effort into going to bed at a reasonable time.

Wednesday and Thursday were the break days between sessions. On Wednesday, James and I ran by the house to see the wood floor that was being installed! I was worried it might look cheap because we went with a laminate, but it looks great. It looks nice, warm and inviting, and works well with the kitchen floor. James then took me by a cupcake shop to finally satisfy my cupcake craving. I had a delicious cupcake called Italian Creme. It wasn't Sprinkles, but the icing was actually much better and it was sooooo good. Then he took me by Zaxby's for fried pickles (another craving). It was like craving day or something! G did not want to nap, but eventually did. Since there was no camp session, we had dinner at home, which makes G so much easier to deal with at night.

Thursday we dealt with more house stuff and stopped to get some coffee before going to the OB appointment (the normally scheduled one). Everything looks good. The doctor said he would be very surprised if the single vessel cord affected her growth at all, since she's growing great right now. I am definitely all belly at this point, which is so different than my last pregnancy, where I just blew up like a balloon. You know you're in trouble though when even your doctor is shocked/surprised by the amount of movement he feels (she kicked him hard, twice). I think I might be giving birth to a whirlwind of energy in the form of a little girl. (Like mama, like daughter, right?) G loved having James around in the afternoon, but he did stay up late working on the last few things for the LAST camp session. He also had fun letting Pippin clean up the rice he'd gotten all over himself during dinner. He even figured out that putting rice on his knee made her more likely to eat it, so he would replace the rice after she ate it. It was pretty adorable.

Friday was a bad day. I woke up with nausea and a migraine. Tylenol did not cut it. I slept a bit after dropping him off at school, but it didn't appease the migraine gods. It was a very difficult day. The kids arrived between 1 and 3 (naptime) and the rest of the afternoon was difficult, though I did make myself take him outside for a while. Unfortunately, that ended in a tantrum when he couldn't play with the balls in the chapel (it was bring him in or risk a tantrum outside the door...I should've gone with the latter). Dinner was difficult, and it took 2 hours to put him to bed. He is just so squirmy and won't settle, finding any way to keep himself awake. Plus, he's so frustrated about being tired that he lashes out at us physically We leave when this happens, but it's difficult to leave him screaming. However, my face can only take so much scratching. It seems limited to me and James, which is both good and bad. At least our babysitters won't be running for the hills.

Saturday was a long day. My migraine wasn't as bad, but it wasn't gone either. I brought G to the games field in the morning since they were doing water day with the campers. I feel much more comfortable letting him run around with this age group (1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders) since they're closer to his height and he's in their sight line. The older kids don't look around their knees for a little kid and he's gotten knocked over a few times, but this age group sees him. He had a blast with those sponge balls, squeezing them against his forehead, water running down his face. He ran around for  good 40 minutes. The counselors are great about helping keep an eye on him, and they love him, which is great! He only lost it when the kids started on the shaving cream fight. He does NOT like being messy (weird boy), and got very upset that there was shaving cream on him. James helped me rinse off my dirty, soaking wet child before lunch, where he was almost falling asleep. Naptime was still a struggle, and he was definitely testing my patience and the limits this afternoon. James came by and asked if he could do anything, and he ended up taking him for a while, letting me sleep off some of the pounding in my head. It was another rough dinner and took 1.5 hours to get him to sleep. That includes the 15 minutes when I just walked out after he bit and scratched me (reminiscent of naptime). I don't know why it's so hard for him to get comfortable, but it's like as soon as he feels himself falling asleep, he squirms more or starts kicking the wall or anything to keep himself awake. And it always seems that as soon as he's about to drift off the dogs bark or there's a particularly loud crack of thunder. By the time he finally goes to sleep I'm so exhausted that I can't do anything: not the dishes or laundry, or even fun stuff for me, like finally finishing the french knot sprinkles or working on the wave blanket. I'm truly a "mombie" after bedtime. It's my personal hell. James has been working late to finish up this session and I know that he has a completely different challenge to deal with at this session: parents. I'll leave it at that, but I've seen a lot of "I don't want to be that person" behaviour this weekend.

Just a few more hours of camp to get through tomorrow and it's over! I can't wait! I can't wait to see James for more than a few minutes at a time and to have him home at a normal, sane time at night. Hopefully he can catch up on his rest and help me with G. I know we'll be living at camp a bit longer than we expected while at least the second level in the house is being finished, but the hours should be different. Either way, there's a lot to look forward to in the next few weeks! My mom should arrive next Friday or Saturday, camp is ending, James will be around more, we meet the person doing the placenta encapsulation on Wednesday, G will be in the 1 year old classroom (he will always be one of the oldest thanks to a Sept 1st cut off date), and we get another ultrasound on James' birthday to check up on our girl. It's a lot of good stuff!

She looks so small this way

33 weeks: Mermaid is the size of a dusky batfish

I was forced to take a side-on one. She is all out in front of me

32 Weeks

How far along: 32 weeks
Total weight gain: +12.5 lbs (how did this go down?)
Favourite clothes: Sesame Street boxers again!
Sleeping: Still tossing and turning
Best Moment: insert here
Worst Moment: 14 contractions within an hour and fearing early labour
Miss anything: Feeling rested
Cravings: Sushi and a big burger
New symptoms: My Braxton-Hicks contractions are crazy!
Looking forward to: Moving into our house!
Crafting: Hooked on a test hat for our girl and still working on the same projects

Sunday was the middle of the session and the last few days went by quick. G went to praise and worship, and Daddy helped him drum a bit (he's an inconsistent, but enthusiastic drummer) and had fun running around Canteen afterward. They had portobellos for the vegetarians one night, and the kitchen staff were sweethearts and saved one out for me. Absolutely delicious.

Tuesday was the last day of the session and I went by the house hoping to see our contractor and not only the contractor was there, but the tile guy to install the kitchen floor! The tile wasn't quite what we expected; instead of the bricks being normal brick-sized they were much smaller, and the tile wasn't as red as I had expected. But, it was ordered and done and being installed and would look great and I just took a breath and decided there were better things to spend energy on than getting upset about something that would ultimately look fine. Our contractor told me I was very chilled out with this pregnancy. I had to agree; with G I was very likely to fly off the handle and my blood always seemed to boil over the slightest things. This time, I'm much more chill. James attributes it to not having conservative talk radio as a constant background noise at work. There's probably something to that theory. It's been much easier to get a handle on my anger though; maybe it also has something to do with not having much energy to expend and choosing where to use it more wisely (toddler wrangling for example).

The floor, as expected, looks great and we ran around for a good portion of that day and the next picking out light fixtures for the bathroom and over the kitchen sink, talking with the cabinet people about fireplace mantles and media cabinets and discussing changes and window installation with the contractor. Everything seems to be coming together pretty quickly now. Our contractor is hoping to get the windows installed this week, the paint on the lower floor done and start installing some of the floors this weekend. I can't wait. It's only two weeks away now!

Wednesday was James' only day between sessions, so he was working pretty hard to get everything prepped and the 7th and 8th graders arrived on Thursday. More middle schoolers--ugh. Thursday was very difficult. James and I ran errands in the morning, making sure Canteen and the Health Hut were stocked with what they needed, and picking up pizza for the staff for lunch. I didn't get a chance to eat before having to run off and pick up G and on the way I had about 4 contractions in 20 minutes. By the time I got G into his bed for his nap (he falls asleep in the car) I'd had 3 more contractions and the doctor wanted me to come in right then. I got James to come watch him, and he eventually had the housekeeper keep an eye on him while he went to meet parents that were arriving to drop off their kid. All in all, I had about 14 contractions within n hour, and they want to see you if you have more than 4. My only thought as I drove to the doctor's was "Not while we're living at camp. Please, not while we're living at camp!" They found no physical signs of labour, thank God, but did find that I was dehydrated. I was told to force fluids and stay on bed rest the rest of the day, and to continue taking it easy. I continued to have contractions the rest of the day, though they slowed down and got better as I continued to drink a ton of water. James took G for the afternoon and I rested until dinner, continuing to take it easy. My uterus just seems to be training hard for the big day: I felt Braxton-Hicks contractions earlier with this pregnancy (like from 10 weeks), and they've been much stronger and more frequent than with G.

The weekend was pretty easy; James took G more frequently to let me rest. He told me very firmly I need to take care of myself. I think Thursday freaked him out more than he let on. It gave me a chance to rest, catch up on the blog, finish the cupcake hat and get a bit of energy back. This week was the last week of daycare's summer session. Next week, they have a babysitting-like service I signed up for: he'll be with a wider age range, which I think he'll enjoy. After that, there's a week-long break before the fall session starts. I'm a little apprehensive about this. Those four hours a day really give me some sanity and help G get out some energy, but camp will be over, so James will be able to be around more too. Just one more week to get through and summer camp is OVER!

32 weeks: Mermaid is the size of a blue angelfish

Bump ba da bump

21 Months

Challenges: Tantrums are a bit better, but still a challenge and potty training is our newest tricky thing to tackle.
Triumphs: Cleaning up before we leave the cabin/bathtime and saying "please" and "thank you"
Words: I've stopped keeping track because he's speaking ALL the time now! He tries pronouncing everything and babbles almost constantly. I LOVE it!
Favourite toys: A stuffed elephant that used to be mine, his tricycle, his rolling Dumbo toy

G has come a long way in a month. It's amazing how fast they change at this age, and how quickly their vocabulary is developing. Almost every word we say, he tried pronouncing and he understands pretty much everything we say. He talks non-stop, sometimes with words we understand, but usually in his own language. The doctor asked at his 18 month appointment about putting two words together. I said no, because they're not real words, but he's talking in full paragraphs and I have a feeling that one day he's just going to come out with a perfect monologue. We point out the things we see out of the window as we drive: trees, clouds, trucks, cars, fields, flowers, etc 

His personality is continuing to develop too. He is most definitely a spirited child, and seems to feel emotions strongly. I'm afraid to say that I think he's inherited my low frustration threshold, and his tantrums are difficult to say the least. He also gets frustrated at bedtime because he's tired but he doesn't want to sleep. Flailing arms and legs make contact with us frequently, but I'm not sure how intentional some of that is. Sometimes it is intentional and it's one of the things we are continuing to work on. 

He has developed an obsession with trucks and cars. He loves seeing them pass us in the other lane and will sometimes say "whoa" or "woooow" when he see s a big truck. When I pick him up from school he screams with delight upon seeing me, then runs towards me yelling "truck, truck, truck!" His onesies and shirts and shorts with trucks on them are his favourite, and anything with cars, tractors, helicopters, planes or motorcycles is fair game. His pull ups with Mater and Lightning McQueen are his favourites and he's beginning to differentiate between a car and a truck. Someone got him a pop-up book with trucks, tractors, etc in them and he loves the book. I have to admit it gets hidden for a week or so at a time to give me a break from incessant re-readings. 

Potty training is hit or miss. He usually goes before his bath, and he lets us know when he's dirty, but we're not anywhere close to buying underwear. I did tell him that he can have some Thomas the train underwear when he's potty trained, but that doesn't seem to be incentive enough ;) We'll see. It would be nice to have him only in night time diapers once baby arrives, but we're moving at his pace and not trying to push anything (read: I have no energy).

He's running and playing and having a blast. He's growing up incredibly, unbelievably fast. He is a snuggle bug at times and gives kisses more readily than ever before. He's a smart, sweet boy who feels fiercely. He knows what he wants and will tell you all about it. He's a bundle of energy wrapped up in dirty clothes. He's a book lover, loves background noise, pasta, peanut butter, bananas and cucumbers. He's a talker and a mama's boy, but wants both Mommy and Daddy nearby. He's my baby boy and I can't imagine my life without him, challenging days and all.

My mischievous munchkin! Look at those ears! 

31 Weeks

How far along: 31 weeks
Total weight gain: +15 lbs
Favourite clothes: Anything I don't feel enormous in
Sleeping: Not at all
Best Moment: The ultrasound and finding out everything was great. And:
I almost got asked to dance by a middle schooler
Worst Moment: I almost got asked to dance by a middle schooler (I'm really not sure if this is good or bad)
Miss anything: I would love a margarita. I'm missing all the fun summer drinks
Cravings: Chips. Tortilla chips, potato chips, as much as possible!
New symptoms: The braxton-hicks are still happening regularly and strongly, my hips are shifting when I toss and turn and heartburn has made a reappearance again
Looking forward to: Camp being over and actually having my husband back again
Crafting: Casting on her hat this week. I hope it goes well!

Sunday was the formal night at dinner, which includes some dancing at the end. Despite being enormous and so pregnant that I can't bend over to pick something up off the floor or stand up without huffing and puffing, one of the boys was trying to pluck up the courage to ask me to dance. Since I was watching G, I couldn't, but he didn't get the nerve up anyways. All I saw was two boys hovering right by me, and his friend saying "Go on, ask her." Much like the "That's something my mom would do" comment, I'm not sure whether it's just weird, or flattering. I'm going to go with flattering, because at this point I need every little confidence boost I can get, no matter how laughable.

I was reminded again that days off during camp season are not days off. James has meetings and work to do both days, working very, very late on Tuesday to make sure he had Wednesday free for the ultrasound. Tuesday evening, my mother-in-law, sister-in-law, and two nephews arrived at camp. It was so great to see them! We had dinner at the decent Mexican restaurant we've found, and met one of Liz's friends from her time at camp, who has two boys of her own. Our table was 50% children, and G ended up needing to go run around outside, but it went pretty well considering. It was amazing to see how much my littlest nephew has grown, and my godson/oldest nephew is getting more and more grown up every day.

The ultrasound was great! Despite the fact that my brain can barely complete an intelligible sentence, I've been nervous about how she's doing. Hearing and seeing her heartbeat was so reassuring. She has all her organs, and is still a girl, and best of all is measuring right at the 50th percentile for weight. Sometimes an SUA can cause growth restriction, but she seems to be doing well so far. We'll have another ultrasound in 4 weeks to check up on her again, since the likelihood of growth restriction is higher the farther along you are. They changed the due date to Sept 27 (only one day earlier), but there's a discrepancy of 3 weeks either way when trying to judge the due date at this point. They wanted to check her face for a cleft, and had to jab at her quite a bit since she had found a way to angle herself just right to avoid the u/s wand. Then she had her hand in front of her face when she did turn. Finally we got a look. I didn't even know such detail was possible outside of a 3D/4D u/s. We could see her features! To me, she looked like G, and no cleft lip was visible, which means a cleft palate isn't likely. Of course, as soon as it was over, she started jumping and jiving to the point where James and Beth could see my belly moving from across the room. Baby Girl is weighing in at 3+ lbs, and I've only gained 15 so far (I guess those comments about it all being baby are truthful, and not false flattery). The doctor said the hip shifting I feel at night is normal, even though I didn't have it last time. And he told me to take something to help me sleep. The night before, I'd fallen asleep on G's bed from 8-2am (not good sleep), and then between heartburn and discomfort, couldn't fall asleep until 6:45, waking up at 7:15. So now I can take unisom or benadryl or tylenol pm because (surprise, surprise) not sleeping is not recommended.

We drove our family by the house, and it had already been taped, mudded and sanded. It really is looking great and will be wonderful when it's done. We picked G up early, and all had lunch at Old 27 Grill, which was great. Good burgers, delicious chocolate shakes, and the outdoor area meant G and I had a blast playing and running around together. I enjoyed holding little E since he will probably be mobile the next time I see him. James and I ended up running errands ALL afternoon, so G only got a nap in the car, which is never as good as a normal nap. He was SO tired that night, and with the Christmas in July party that James cooked for/participated in, he didn't get a bath, so we stayed up a bit later than usual. He was still tired at daycare the next day (enough for them to comment on it when I picked him up), but didn't nap well, so he was pretty cranky.

The heat is a big problem for me. When you add the humidity and my pregnancy in, I'm having a very difficult time being outside. I've been close to heat stroke a few times, getting faint and dizzy when we're outside. I also have no energy, but a toddler with an overabundance of it. I feel badly, but I physically cannot handle playing outside between the sapping effect of the humidity and the bugs. I have bites all over my feet, legs, arms and even my face now. It's driving me crazy. The lavender oil blend Liz made for me helps the itching, but before long it's back. We've been inside a lot, and watching too much TV, but even being on the porch or walking to the chapel is too much. Hopefully G won't resent me forever for it. Luckily, he gets a lot of his energy out at daycare, and then naps until about 3, so it's not usually too bad.

The rest of the week was pretty ordinary, 6th and 7th graders at camp. G finally got knocked over by one of them. They don't have any reason to look around their knees for a little person, and it gets crazy when they're getting food/dessert. We generally try to keep him in a chair or away from the crush of kids when they're moving around, but there's so much to see that he gets distracted easily and doesn't want to stay still in a chair. He was perfectly fine, though he was so tired that he cried for a while. Feeding him at dinner or breakfast is hard too because of all the noise and distractions. We've started bringing some dinner home and feeding him again in his high chair, which has been going quite well for the most part. After this session there are only two more left, which is crazy! And next week is G's last week of summer daycare. Summer is wrapping up quickly, and to be honest, I can't wait to get settled in the house, have a dishwasher, get my husband back and get ready to welcome our little girl into our family!

31 weeks: Mermaid is the size of an Atlantic blue tang

Don't judge the pyjama pants!

30 Weeks

How far along: 30 Weeks (when did that happen?)
Total weight gain: ?
Favourite clothes: I feel the need to get dressed to drop off and pick up G, but I really want to stay in pyjamas and sleep all day!
Sleeping: Toss, turn, get up to pee, toss, turn, hips shift, turn again, repeat. Do people actually sleep at night?
Best Moment: Seeing G curled up reading with James in the mornings is heart-melting
Worst Moment: Days off are not truly days off at camp.
Miss anything: As usual, a full night's sleep, uninterrupted by discomfort and getting up to pee
Cravings: A big, juicy burger. Yum.
New symptoms: My hips literally shift when I turn at night. The whole thing.
Looking forward to: Our second ultrasound is coming next week!

Sunday was the last day of the 4th and 5th grade camp. I can't say I was upset; maybe it's just the age, but I spent most of the mealtimes (the most time I spend with them) trying to avoid being stepped on/slammed into when getting food and worrying that they were going to run G over since none of them seemed to take notice of their surroundings. Plus I was looking forward to eating meals in the air conditioned dining hall again instead of on the porch.

Monday was our hospital pre-admit visit. We got to see the maternity wing at the hospital, and though all the labour rooms were occupied, it all seemed very similar to St. Joseph's, though the nursery wasn't as open. The woman who checks you in is one of the lactation consultants, so it was nice to know that they're available, and everything I asked about was accepted without the blink of an eye. (For those of you who don't know, I've decided to get my placenta encapsulated this time.)

The day before a camp session starts is always stressful. I feel like it should be a day off, since no campers are here, but there's so much stuff that James has to prep that he often ends up working into the wee hours of the morning. Tuesday was no exception, and Wednesday the 5th and 6th graders arrived. Again, it was a really relaxed week since it seemed like we had pouring rain and thunder every afternoon; it knocked the power out quite a few times. I did a lot of unpacking, laundry and errands in the mornings. G and I had lots of movie afternoons and snacks and playing inside after his naps. We did take his trike out a few times, and he's been having a blast riding it around camp (up to the chapel) and also up and down the hall in the cabin. He also spent one afternoon playing in the dirt while the kids played Quidditch, though quite a few of them ended up playing with him instead. He's very popular at camp :)

I stopped by the house a few times and it's looking great! They finally got the inspection done on Friday, and Dan was able to get the drywall team in on Saturday, so it's really coming along nicely. It's much more fleshed out now that we can see where the walls are instead of just studs, and I can't wait to see it when it's all done. I'm especially looking forward to the dishwasher!

30 weeks: Our Mermaid is the size of a vermillion sea bass

Growing, growing, growing!