Thirty

So if they say that 60 is the new 40, does that mean that me turning 30 is more like I'm turning 10?

Tomorrow we are heading up north for me to spend the week with my parents. It will be good for Dylan to have time with his cousins and for Ryan have time back here to get some work done (while I continue to stick to my bedrest orders with the help of my parents). Dylan is super excited to go to see "Nandma and Tapa" and has already packed up all his cars in a bag to take along and share with his cousins!

So tomorrow my birthday plans include:
1. Spending the morning working on getting my medical release from Jury Duty since I'm on bedrest (at least something has good timing in my life!)
2. Driving up north and dropping Ryan off along the way to meet up with my mom and uncle for his eye surgery at 3pm. Yeah, Ryan is having LASIK eye surgery tomorrow. I'm excited for him, but nervous, wishing I could be there to hold his hand myself!
3. Managing Dylan along with my dad and cousin's help as I try to stick to doctor's orders for bedrest...
4. Locate some chocolate or ice cream or something sweet and indulge after Dylan goes to bed and I wait for my mom to bring Ryan back home after his surgery...

Yup, just your average 10-year-old birthday plans.

Best Friends

Dylan likes to list off his best friends. At the top of the list is always Rocco. This week while on bed-rest, Dylan had a couple days where my friends picked him up for the day and let him hang out with them until Ryan could come home. Thursday he was with his friend Ricky. Then on Friday he was with his BESTEST friend EVER! Rocco. This kid is the THE KID that all the kids want around. He's funny, playful, sweet, and plays nicely with the other kids. This was taken a couple months ago, but it shows how great these two boys get along. They often are found hand-in-hand or giggling together over some piece of food as they pass it back and forth in their strollers, leaning over to reach eachother.
Thank goodness for good friends. He is a sweet boy and I'm thankful for him in my son's life. Thanks Genese for helping me out this past week!

Update: 24 weeks

On Tuesday my scheduled OB appt was cancelled, so I rescheduled to see another doctor in the same practice on Wednesday. Since Dylan didn't have daycare, we brought him along so Ryan could be there too.
While driving around looking for a parking spot, Ryan got pulled over (yes, a TICKET!) for making an 'illegal U-turn' where the sign was covered by a bush!

Then once he joined me inside with the doctor, our day went from bad to worse.

But first I want to point out some Good news , that the baby looks good. We saw her spine, umbilical cord with both channels intact, heartbeat, kidneys, stomach, bladder, head, femur. She measured good, with the doctor noting that she is about 1 pound and 7 ounces already.

Bad news is that she discovered that I have a low-lying placenta, which isn't a problem as long as the baby moves down below it in the next few weeks/months. And is more of a concern because I've continued to have noticeable contractions (the painful ones haven't reoccured since around 21-22 weeks, but they are still there despite my reducing my exercise and lifting since my last visit.
So this doctor did a few other tests and sent me home on bed-rest at least until my next appointment with my regular doctor (she's out on vacation for about 2 weeks), if not for longer.

This wouldn't be so much of a problem if we had regular outside help with Dylan, or if I wasn't at a risk of losing my job because of how much time off this could mean for me (the max that the law protects my job for is 4 months, which takes me just until after her due-date, but not enough for post-partum recovery after she's born), or if Ryan wasn't so busy at work with trying to resubmit his paper soon, or if me working those few days a week wasn't something we depended on. But I do realize that only I can carry this baby to term. Only I can ensure she has the best chance at not having to be born prematurely by following the doctor's instructions. And in researching things a bit more today, she wouldn't have much of a chance at life if she was born now. A risk that isn't worth taking just because I don't want to be stuck in bed. My hope though is that this is short-term and once I see my regular OB doctor in 3 weeks, that she can lift this bed-bound sentence so I can at least have Dylan during the week at home with me.

And here's where I get to focus on what I'm thankful for. I'm so thankful for my precious husband and son, who both have to endure the bulk of these changes to our life/schedules/routines along with me. I'm thankful for the many friends who have called, emailed, and stopped by with supportive words, food, and the promise to help out where they can as long as I'm in this position. I'm thankful for my health, that this is potentially a short-term discomfort and hopefully will resolve soon. I'm thankful for our families, who love us unconditionally and we know we can count on for support and encouragement with whatever lies ahead.

For those of you out there who read this, please keep our baby girl in your prayers for continued time on the inside so she can grow up strong and come join our family healthy at the end of these next few months. And pray for patience and endurance for Ryan, Dylan, and myself as we adjust to these changes.

Favorites of a 2 year old

See that little brown stool that Dylan is sitting on? It's integral to our kitchen now. He drags it around, following wherever I go while I cook or prepare him a snack/drink.

He has a knack for placing it just where I need to stand to cook and it drives me nuts, but I do enjoy him wanting to be with me in the kitchen. After all, how long will THAT last, I wonder?

Tub-time is still the highlight of every evening around here. Often when we've had a fun-filled morning/afternoon (i.e. too dirty to take a nap until bathed), I will give him a bath earlier in the day. He loves it, but then gets sad later in the evening when he doesn't get another bath. I think it's the "colors" he gets.

Often when he likes something, he declares "I yuv dis ting" (I love this thing). He loves his little friends Rocco, Nolan, Joshua. He loves running with daddy. He loves kitty. He loves singing together. He loves french toast. He loves making coffee with daddy in the mornings. He loves chocolate milk. He loves bathtime!

Coaster

"Mmm, a yummy cookie to munch on."
"Wait a sec, this tastes a little organic."
"Mom, have you been buying my cookies at Whole Foods again!?"

Update: 21 weeks

We had our 21 week OB appointment on Tuesday afternoon. Baby girl has once again been confirmed as a baby GIRL, looking healthy, measuring femur and head size appropriately. Heart looks good. All is good...
Except that I've been having contractions. Braxton Hicks mostly, but in the evenings I've had a few painful ones that even once woke me up from sleep. When I mentioned this to my doctor, she told me that I should stop working to avoid total bedrest with a preterm labor. I made promises to stop working out and to limit any carrying of Dylan when possible (he's 30 lbs) and to rest more in the evenings instead of being on my feet so much. She said as long as I don't have any more painful episodes and watch to make sure the Braxton Hicks are no more than 4 in an hour, I can continue working.
So here I am, thinking of all the ways that I'm needing to put not only my unborn little baby girl, but my whole family first in my life. I need to stop thinking of myself in terms of 'weight-gain' and time out of the house with my mommy-friends, judging myself from the perception of the world around me.
Another friend mentioned to me yesterday how important it is that we put our families first in our lives, because this time is only a season in our lives that we will miss later on and nothing is more important. She's 100% right and I need to be reminded of that when I'm tempted to go hit the park for a workout, long walk, or big day running errands. What would those things mean to me if I didn't have my family? Nothing.

A Night Out

Last night we went out to dinner, sans Dylan. Our friend Kathy watched him for us while we enjoyed a quiet evening at PF Changs and then a quick run to Vons on our way home for some milk that Dylan had been asking for while we were gone. What kind of parents don't leave enough milk for some 'chocolate milk' while they are gone?
Anyhow, she posted some cute videos of her babysitting Dylan on her blog today.

Weight Gain

Now that I've reached the halfway mark in this pregnancy, I'm starting to wonder what things are going to look like at the end (i.e. weight-gain). I know it's not a BIG issue, but ever since my OB mentioned that she doesn't like her patients to gain more than 5 lbs. in the first 20 weeks, I've been annoyed as I watch my bathroom scale report it's findings each morning. So far, I've gained less than 10 pounds (ok, so it's 9 pounds now...)
According to this chart, I'm set to be at about 30 pounds or so by the time I deliver and another site I found says I should target my gain at about 33 pounds. Plus last time around I didn't exercise at all and now I've been keeping a pretty consistent routine of an hour of exercise 2 x week. When I overdo it, I pay later in the day, but lately I think I've found a balance and have felt alright as long as I rest later in the day.
Overall the projected weight gain according to this chart isn't too bad, but at the rate I'm going with food (Roscoe's again on Thursday), I'm pretty much doomed if I don't slow down.