Cute Things Toddlers Do

I love writing about the cute things Brody does. He's obviously not different from every other two year old, they all have their cute moments. My theory, is that if I keep track of them, they're great to look back on when he's driving me crazy and remind me how sweet and innocent he is.

We tried teaching Brody to give "bear-hugs." We got him to squeeze us tightly, but then he started "roaring." Because clearly, to give a bear-hug, you have to roar like a bear! Then, the next time I asked him to give me a bear-hug, he said, "no!" Saddened by this, I asked why not, he said "no, cat-hug", me, clearly confused, sat there while he wrapped his arms around me and meow-ed while giving me a hug.

What you didn't know there was such thing as a cat-hug? Me neither, but it's just as sweet as every other hug...and much more hilarious.

Labor Prediction

With Brody I came across a website that predicts your labor experience. Here was Brody's prediction:
"The day you deliver, outside will be dark. Your baby will arrive in the
middle of the night. After a labor lasting approximately 14 hours, your child, a
boy, will be born. Your baby will weigh about 15 pounds, 12 ounces, and will be
20-1/2 inches long. This child will have medium gray eyes and barely there
auburn hair. "

**He was only 8lbs 14oz, 21 1/2 inches, labor was more like 36 hours all in, but was 16 hours at the hospital, in the middle of hte afternoon. He had dark hair and blue eyes... so all in, totally incorrect!

But for fun, I did it again!

Baby#2:

The day you deliver, outside will be windy. Your baby will arrive in the late afternoon. After a labor lasting approximately 9 hours, your child, a girl, will be born. Your baby will weigh about 5 pounds, 6 ounces, and will be 17 inches long. This child will have medium brown eyes and curly blonde hair.

This one is a lot more believeable than last time. And I like the "girl" prediction. But I'm not holding my breath. Curly hair? Not likely, blonde, maybe. Brown eyes? Probably not. 5lbs 6oz after having an almost 9lb baby? Again, not likely. But you never know! I will take the 9 hour labor though...

Pregnancy #2 is going to be very different

Doctor Visits

January 26th

First appointment was with a nurse to confirm pregnancy, take blood and go over any questions / give me the what to do / not to do while pregnant.

All in all pretty eventful. She confirmed that the pregnancy test was positive - but I assumed that their test was pretty consistent with the million I took at home.

February 9th

First appointment with the OB. Sadly, the OB that delivered Brody (who we loved!) died of cancer before Brody turned 1. So, this was only my second appointment with my new doctor from the same office. It was interesting to see how his views were going to be different than my last doctor.

Luckily, I got to skip some of the not-so-fun stuff, since I was just in the office last summer. He wasn't worried about waiting until after birth to do the routine annual exam. All he did was check to make sure everything was growing on schedule

He brought a doppler in to listen to the heartbeat, but said right away, that it will be hard to hear one at 8 weeks. He said he'd probably bring me back in 2 weeks to try again to listen to it. I was instantly dissapointed. I had a bad dream this week that I miscarried the baby, and for some reason have been extrememly more paranoid with this one than with Brody.

Then...he said something like, or we could pop-in for a quick ultrasound to make sure everything is okay. Yes please!! Jason told him that I was being a worry-wart and that an ultrasound would probably make me feel a lot better, commenting that I was having bad dreams about the baby.

Once he realized that my uterus is tipped backwards (happened after Brody was born, doesn't really affect anything), he knew that he'd never hear the heartbeat with a doppler. Obviously the baby is positioned further away, making it harder to hear anything. So he didn't even try. He just said, let's go see if the ultrasound is available. Yay!!

He found the baby very quickly with the wand and we instantly saw a little flicker. That was the heartbeat. He looked around for awhile, showing us the forming umbilical cord, did a 3D image of our little peanut and double checked to make sure there was only 1 in there (whew!).

Apparently I ovulated from my left ovary (I find this interesting for some reason) and there was a weird speck of something near the baby (but not on it). Doc said it was nothing to worry about, just something to note at this point and time. Said it will probably go away, but didn't say much else about it. Luckily, we'll be going back for another one in 4 weeks, so we'll get to make sure everything is still on track.

Introducing, our little peanut...

Weeks 5-7

Weekly checklist:
How far along? 7 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: 0
Maternity clothes? Seriously, I can't keep my pants buttoned. Okay, I can, but then it digs into my stomach and makes me even more sick than I already feel. Instead, I'm using a hair tie around my buttons or the Be Band to keep my pants up.
Sleep: Exhausted, but our trip to FL allowed me to sleep in A LOT. It was amazing and much needed.
Best moment these weeks: Telling a couple ladies the big secret.
Food cravings: More like aversions. Something sounds good, then I don't want to eat it. Sometimes while I'm eating it, it no longer tastes good. Is it second tri yet?
Gender: TBD - For the record, Jay has officially declared that it is a girl. Despite the fact that I am much sicker than with Brody (which would be just typical of a little-diva inside me), I do seriously think it will be another boy. Which is totally fine with me, since I clearly have an amazing little boy at home and know that we'd create another just-as-awesome little man.
Labor Signs: No.
What I miss: Feeling normal. Did I mention that morning sickness is in full swing? Oh and that it's not just morning, but noon, night, middle of the night. It's really awesome.
What I am looking forward to: 8 week appointment next week!
Milestones: 1st appointment (with the nurse, not the OB).

Week 4

Last pregnancy, I didn't start weekly check-ins until second trimester. This time, I am starting them early to allow myself to blog about it before I can actually tell anyone! I'm posting the entries after we've announced, obviously, but it's a good look back at the early weeks.

Weekly checklist:
How far along? 4 weeks
Total weight gain/loss: +0 (I thought I gained a 1lb already, but was back down today, whew!)
Maternity clothes? Not for awhile, hopefully!
Sleep: Definitely getting tired already. I am not sure if it is because I cut down on caffeine significantly or because of the baby.
Best moment this week: Postive pregnancy test!
Food cravings: none, but I am hungrier already.
Gender: Here is what I wrote in my first check-in with Brody: "Won't know for awhile...but figure with Jason's family history, it's probably a boy!" I was right with Brody. This time, while it will be fun to have a girl, I know how much fun having a little man is, so I know it will be great either way!
Labor Signs: Hopefully none for a long time!
What I miss: Caffiene. No soda since the stick turned pink and cut down to 1 regular coffee a day or half caf espresso. Ideally, I'd cut it out completely, but I just don't know if I am capable.
What I am looking forward to: First OB appointment / first ultrasound. I'm hoping to get to see a gummy bear again around 8ish weeks!
Weekly Wisdom: I'm one very very lucky girl. While it's still too early to shout from the rooftops, I am so excited that we have another one on the way. I'm very very lucky that we didn't have to wait a long time with either pregnancies and I know that.
Milestones: Kicking off the beginning of a wonderfully long journey.

And History Repeats Itself

January 10, 2012
How we found out #2 was on the way:

A little background:
When we decided to have Brody, it only took us 2 months to conceive. So of course I had really high expectations with this one and was trying very hard to not to get my hopes up. However, after one month of trying, I of course was a little sad when we weren't successful.

The second month we were trying I realized how selfishly I wanted this to be the month. I'll list them out later, but there are a ton of reasons a Sept baby would be awesome for us. So of course I started getting my hopes up.

Knowing I could be in for the long run, I bought a pack of home pregnancy tests online for super cheap. My theory was that since they were so cheap, it wouldn't be a problem if I tested multiple times.

The days leading up:
About 5 days before my period, I took a test. I didn't even tell Jason because I was pretty sure it would be negative. However, we were going out with friends that night and I figured that if I knew for sure, it would be great.

Of course it was negative. I was still dissapointed and did end up telling Jason later that it was negative. The test strips were supposed to be very sensitive, so I was feeling pretty confident that this probably wasn't the month. Just in case though, I only had a little over 1 glass of wine. (In retrospect, I wonder if I should have abstained completely...oh well)

And here we go again:
2 days before my period I had a dream that I took a test and it was positive. Crazy right?? I woke up after the dream to cramps. It felt like my period was on it's way. Again, dissapointment.

However, I found out we were pregnant with Brody on the same cycle day, so I tested anyway.

First test: very very faint pink line that showed up after the full 5 minute testing time. (Me: This can't be right??)

Second test: Immediately took another one (remember these were cheap!). Faint, but a little more clear. But...a line is a line...right????

Showed them to Jason but we were cautiously excited. Tossed them in the garbage. Went to work - googled - said a line is a line no matter how faint. Now I was really getting excited.

Picked up a digital test on my way home that night....Took it and yep - Pregnant!!!
I handed Brody the test (with the plastic cover over it) and told him to take it to Daddy. What does he do? He takes the cover off of the part that has my pee on it and starts to rub it on his arm. He then sticks it in his hair next. (This kid is crazy).

Meanwhile, I'm quickly trying to grab it away from him! Jason has no idea what is going on, so I just put the cover back on, throw the test at him and went to wash Brody up.

Then it finally clicks what he's looking at and he gets very excited.

Same amount of cycles, postive test on the same day...sometimes it's good when history repeats itself!

Brody has an announcement...

Baby #2 is on it's way!!

The way a toddler thinks...

I constantly crack-up at the things Brody says to me. I've posted about how random a conversation can be with him. But even more, these conversations really make me think about how weird his brain works.

I believe most of Brody's frustrations these days, is because he really doesn't understand certain things. Take yesterday's discussion:

Walking through daycare parking lot:

B: Blue one, Mama!
M: Yes, there is a blue car, good job!
B: Drive Blue one.
M: Silly, that's not our car! We have a brown car.
B: No Mama, blue one!
M: Brody, I can't just drive someone else's car. See, look at Mama's keys, they work for our Brown car.

Of course he was still upset we didn't get to drive the blue car, and I still don't think he gets why we can't just pick any car out of the parking lot and drive it home.

Then on the way home, he proceeded to tell me about the boogers in his nose, how he wanted eggs plus hot dogs for dinner and told me I drive too fast. He seriously makes me laugh.

Every.single.day.