I feel like I missed out on a good chunk of the “dream trimester.” Now that I’m rounding my way into the third trimester, things are just not feeling as good as they used to. I have periodic aches and pains, discomfort, stitches in my sides, etc. Seems like every day, something hurts. I told my doctor that I wasn’t sure what to label “pregnancy” and what to label “surgery aftermath.” I don’t think I’ll ever be able to draw a line between the two.
This poor baby. He or she is going to read back on my pregnancy “journal” and read all about my misery. Sorry, kid.
My biggest challenge right now is maybe energy. Or, rather, patience. I find myself more easily aggravated with Nora these days. I would maybe call that a product of her age—two-and-a-half can be challenging, you know—but I think it’s me. My discomfort and general feeling of, “Ughhh, I don’t have the energy to fight you!” mean that I snap sooner than I used to. When she’s being good and listening? Love. When she’s not? I just want to walk away and go lie down on the couch.
The energy thing is improving, though. But I wonder how much more improvement I’ll see before late pregnancy kicks in and things decline again. So for now, I’m enjoying the bursts of energy and motivation as they come—even if I pay for them later. Last weekend, I got started on a (relatively) minor facelift in the kids’/guest bathroom. I made a pretty decent amount of progress just during Nora’s naptime… and then I felt like I had been hit by a truck the rest of the day.
I had another doctor’s appointment today and everything looked good. She measured my belly for the first time, and it was on track. I’m 26 weeks, 2 days, and I measured at 25.5 cm. I gained 2-3 lbs. in the last couple of weeks, which is good since I had lost some from my surgery and recovery. Heartbeat sounded good.
We talked about my travel plans for the summer (nothing crazy, just a few long weekends away within driving distance), and she gave me her blessing as long as they were before 36 weeks. Which they are.
I ordered a bunch of maternity clothes this week, and unearthed the rest of my stash from the basement now that the weather has finally been warm enough to wear some of them. I had more than I remembered—some dresses and tops that I forgot about—but I still need a few more things to get me through, so here’s hoping that some of the stuff I ordered actually fits and looks nice.
I’m starting to feel some pressure with the baby name situation. We are pretty sure about a boys’ name (might use the one we had picked out for last time!), and have a handful of girls’ names that we like. The problem with the girls’ names is that I haven’t fallen in love with any of them like I did with the name Nora. I keep waiting for one of them to grow on me in that same way, or to hear a new name somewhere that just clicks as “the one.” Naming a second baby is also harder because we have the added factor of, “How does it sound when you say it with Nora? Does it go with Nora?” Since my ultrasound in the hospital, I’ve been leaning toward feeling like this baby is a boy—no real reason other than that was the feeling I got when looking at him/her on the screen—so part of me has been thinking, “We probably don’t even really need a girl name.” But what if we do?!
I had the cutest conversation with Nora last night during bedtime prayers. We were going through, blessing my brother’s family, and I said, “God bless the baby in Aunt Kara’s tummy.” Nora said, “Nooooo… Aunt Ree’s tummy.” (Aunt Marie. My other brother’s wife.) I explained to her that no, Aunt Marie wasn’t having a baby, but Aunt Kara is, just like Mommy. I told her that Hunter was going to have a baby brother or sister, just like she’s going to have. She said, “No, Mommy, Hunter BIG BOY.” Any time we mention babies she always thinks we’re trying to talk about her, and corrects us that she’s a big girl. The same went for Hunter, I guess. :) I finally explained it to her by telling her that she is going to be a BIG sister, and Hunter is going to be a BIG brother. She eventually smiled and conceded with, “Ohhhh.”
I still wonder how that’s going to go. Even 26 weeks in, it’s hard to imagine someone new in our little family.
You guys. It was gorgeous here this weekend. We finally had SPRING.
Both Saturday and Sunday were beautiful. And it was refreshing. It made me want to get up, get out, and do things. It’s amazing what some 70-degree temperatures and sunshine can do for your motivation.
We spent a good chunk of both days outside. That’s all Nora wants to do these days. “Play outside?” she asks the minute we pick her up from daycare. (And she spends time outside at daycare, too, so it’s not like she’s deprived.) She can’t get enough of the great outdoors. I just wish she was a little better at independent play out there. Inside? She can keep herself busy. Outside? It depends. Sometimes she has complete A.D.D. out there; she moves from one thing to the next and nothing can keep her entertained for long. Hopefully she’ll get the hang of it as the spring/summer goes on. :)
I took my camera out with us on Saturday evening and snapped some of my favorite recent pics of Nora. Well, they are the only recent pics of Nora, really. Aside from a couple of belly pics, these are the only pics I have in my April 2013 folder! It’s insanity. My appendix seriously stole my April from me. But I’m reclaiming my MAY! And JUNE! And JULY!
This is her new favorite outdoor game. “Drive-thru window” with Daddy. Only with Daddy. Mommy is not allowed to order.
Daddy cracks her up. Love her infectious giggle.
Those bangs. They are thisclose to being long enough to make it back into her ponytail. If I wet her hair when I put it up, they’ll actually stay back in the ponytail holder for a little bit, but as they dry they work their way out and back down into her face. And my girl is not very tolerant of barrettes. We’re almost there!
I felt a lot more like my normal self this weekend. Warmth and sunshine, in addition to being great mood boosters, are apparently also great healers. I even started a project—Nora’s bathroom. Well, the kids’/guest bath. More on that later this week, maybe, but it felt good to be making some progress on the “pre-baby” to-do list. It’s not a huge project, but a facelift nonetheless. Once the bathroom is done, it will be time to set sights on the nursery! Eeek!
To make the weekend even more productive, I also packed away the majority of Nora’s cold-weather clothes. It felt great because of the “spring cleaning” aspect, and the whole “out with winter, in with spring!” thing. But I also always get so, so sad to pack away the things I know she’ll never wear again. Even when I so look forward to putting her in all of the cute new stuff. Seriously bittersweet, this “growing up” stuff. (Oh, and don’t worry, she doesn’t have THAT many clothes. I know the bin is huge. But it is holding last year’s winter and summer clothes, too.)
The 10-day forecast looks amazing. We woke up to rain and gloom this morning, but we can’t complain because the rest looks so good. I see a lot of good moods in my future. Hopefully it stays that way. Lord knows we paid our dues with this long-ass winter!
I hope you all enjoyed your weekends as much as we did. T minus four days until the next one!
Obviously, I fell way behind in my pregnancy “journal” thanks to my lovely appendicitis. I guess I could’ve made more of an effort to keep up with the weekly photos during that time, but let’s see… the first week (week 23), I was in the hospital on an IV drip, and couldn’t even get out of bed by myself (and um, wasn’t even wearing pants). The second week (week 24), I was home, but was wearing pajamas 24 hours per day, wore no makeup, and only showered every other day at best.
Needless to say, I didn’t feel much like posing for belly pics.
I do have a 22-week photo to share that I never had the chance to post. I took it on the day before I woke up sick, which started the whole appendicitis ordeal.
22 Weeks PregnantAnd here I am now:
25 Weeks PregnantAt this point, I am feeling OK in my recovery. Still somewhat sore, still somewhat weak. I can eat completely normally now and not pay for it with horrible gas pains, so that’s good at least. My incision has healed, but man, it is ugly. About 4 inches long with lovely staple marks running like train tracks down each side of it. It feels bumpy to the touch, and the tissue underneath it is hard (scar tissue?). I’m nervous about what’s going to happen to it when my stomach grows and stretches as it will inevitably do over the next ~15 weeks. But I also know that there is really nothing I can do about it, so… I’m trying to let go of the worry and just hope that my body will do what it has to do.
Oh, and on an unrelated side note: It is absolutely NOT warm enough here to be wearing sleeveless tops. I wore a big, flowy, open sweater over that tank top today, but when I wore it in photos it disguised my belly and just looked weird from the side angle, so I took it off. :)
I am feeling a lot of baby movement these days. I forgot how weird it felt. Even after I had Nora—up until I got pregnant again, in fact—I would feel what I called “phantom kicks,” and it always made me slightly nervous because I was thinking, Ohmygod, I better not end up one of those women on “I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant.” But now that I’ve experienced real movement again, the “phantom kicks” are sooo not the same. When the baby really gets going in there, it is actually a little bit uncomfortable… sort of like the feeling you get in your stomach when you ride a rollercoaster. And it absolutely keeps me away if I’m trying to sleep.
Speaking of sleep… *sigh* It’s not great these days. I am up once a night to pee, which isn’t terrible (yet), but I have a really hard time getting comfortable. During my pregnancy with Nora I became a back sleeper for a lot of the time, but at this stage it is uncomfortable to sleep on my back. I spend every night rotating from side to side with a body pillow between my knees, and it’s just not conducive to great rest for me. My sleep issues started with the appendicitis and were exacerbated by my time in the hospital and the pain I experienced. It just hasn’t gone back to normal since then.
Overall, I am suddenly feeling BIG. I know I’ve got a long ways to go still, but my stomach is definitely there now. I am acutely aware of the fact that I’m pregnant now, if that makes sense.
I say nightly prayers with Nora, where we go through our immediate family members and individually bless them. “God bless Nora, God bless Mommy, God bless Daddy, God bless Grammy…” etc. etc. We’ve now added “God bless the baby in Mommy’s tummy” to the list. :) Nora will remind me if I forget, too. It’s really cute.
I am so freaking sick of my wardrobe. Most of my real maternity clothes are SUMMER clothes, since by the time I was this pregnant with Nora, we were into early June. We just need the weather to warm up so I can wear all of that stuff! I do need to do a little bit of shopping, though. I need another pair of work pants, for sure, and a few new tops would be nice. I just need to find the time/energy to shop a little.
Speaking of time and energy, we’re trying to get back on track with the projects we have on the list for pre-baby. We’re starting with Nora’s (well, the kids/guest) bathroom. I’m hoping I can will myself to start some work on it this weekend, because otherwise I’m going to start to panic a little. Too much to do, too little time.
15 weeks to go.
I returned to work yesterday. It felt really strange after being out for nearly 2.5 weeks. Since starting my full-time career after college, the only other times I’ve been out of work that long (or longer) was when we got married and went on our honeymoon, and when I had Nora and took maternity leave. It was nice to be back, but weirdly, it’s going to take some time to get back up to speed on stuff. I mean… it was only 2.5 weeks. But I guess I never really think about all my team does in that stretch of time. Things change quickly. Everything that I was working on before I left had to be finished up and out the door while I was out, so… I’ve got nothin’. That won’t last long, though!
I had my follow-up appointment with my doctor (my OB, not the surgeon) on Friday morning and all looked fine so she cleared me to return to work/normal life activity—within reason. I still have to take it slowly. I tire easily, and I get sore if I do too much. It’s all about listening to my body at this point.
I was officially down 4 lbs. by the doctor’s scale… and that was after I had already been back to eating for a week. Given what I’d been through, my doctor was not at all surprised, but told me to try to get in some extra protein if I can. Now that I can REALLY eat again, I wouldn’t be shocked if I gain it back easily, but we’ll see. Other than that little concern, my incision was good, baby’s heart rate was good. It sounds like we can finally put this whole ordeal behind us now.
It’s weird because now it feels like the baby’s due date is right around the corner. When settling back into work, I’m now looking at the calendar and thinking, “Damn, only a little more than three months and I’ll be out again.” It’s crazy, but makes sense—I basically lost 1/3 of the month of April to my blasted appendix.
And just like during my first trimester, I’m tremendously thankful for my iPhone, because I have not picked up the real camera since before my surgery. At least we have iPhone photos that documented these last few weeks, and to get a few good snaps of Nora. I have to make it my mission this week to bust out the camera and get back into a groove again.
Life. It just keeps going.
I feel behind.
Toddlers, man. Can’t live with ‘em, can’t live without ‘em.
There’s always something that’s a challenge, right?
Right now, we’re dealing with a bit of a doozy. The problem? We can’t do anything nice/special for Nora without paying the price—in the form of attitude, screaming, and/or a full-fledged tantrum.
Playing outside? Awesome, but then it’s a huge battle to get her back in. Even at daycare, we’re told.
A trip to the park? Lovely. Until it’s time to leave, that is. That results in a scream fest that could very well bust ear drums.
Allow a cupcake after dinner? She’s delighted. Until she demands another and we say no. We get the “I’M TOO MAD!” stomping-of-the-foot attitude for half an hour afterward.
It was nice out tonight, so we took a ride to get out of the house (God, I’m so bored!) to get some ice cream. We were a happy, peachy family of three. But when it was gone, Nora demanded more, and when we told her that it was gone and it was time to go home, she first got the attitude and further tried to demand her way. Then Michael picked her up and she did the high-pitch screaming. Then he went to put her in her car seat and she arched her back and made it nearly impossible to buckle her in, all while telling us how mad she was.
What gives, kid? This makes us never want to do anything fun with her ever again.
Once we were home and she had calmed down, I talked to her about it as we were getting her ready for the bath. I told her, “You need to tell us ‘thank you’ for the ice cream.” And she did. The thing is, Nora is usually really polite. She “pleases” and “thank yous” for almost anything we do for her. We have to remind her about “please” on a regular basis, but she almost always says “thank you” without prompting. For handing her a spoon. For complimenting her artwork. For helping her do something.
So why can’t we get a “thank you” when we do something special??
I’m hoping that this period of ungratefulness is something that is a stage and just goes away with time. We try to explain it to her, like “If you act like this when it’s over, we’re never going to do these things with you again.” And “Don’t you want to come back for ice cream another time? You need to be a good girl and say thank you. When the ice cream is gone, it’s time to go home.”
But is it something they just learn? Do they eventually learn to appreciate the treats, or is there a better/more effective way to teach this concept to a 2-year-old? I see other children walk away peacefully when it’s over or time to go home. When will mine do this?
The problem is that there doesn’t seem to be adequate consequences for the behavior. I mean, the greatest punishment is making her leave, or refusing to give another cupcake, or whatever. We’re not giving in and giving her what she wants, so I guess we “win”… until next time, when we’re in the same position.
We’re heading into warm weather, and my favorite seasons of the year. We’ll want to do a lot of special things, especially leading up to the baby being born. But it’s hard when the fallout hardly makes the added joy worthwhile.
About
I'm Heather. I just turned 30. I'm happily married, and mommy to the most beautiful little girl in the world (what, you're saying I could be biased?). Determined DIYer and homeowner. Sarcastic. A perfectionist. A bleeding-heart liberal. Frugal. Loves a little dog way more than many humans. Loves food, hates exercise (it's an ongoing battle). A loyal football fan. I love to laugh. Value family and friends above all else. Vie to be a world traveler.Instagram
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