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Today

• My son is 8 days old - I don't know what surprises me more: that it's already been 8 days or that I have a son (not son versus daughter, though there's a touch of that in there too, but mostly I've come to terms with it, but more that I have a child; I'm a Mommy now. The girls are wonderful and I consider them as much mine as Hudson is, being that I'm helping to raise them too, but they're mostly grown. They don't need me like he does. It shouldn't really make a difference (and it doesn't in terms of love) but wow, I have a son!
• Nate went back to work today. That was the quickest week off that we've spent together. We didn't get to do much relaxing, but it was absolutely beautiful to see the two of them together. Hudson is a great baby and loves to cuddle... especially with his daddy. Nate just has the touch! I was worried about how we'd make it through without him today, but as of now, we've survived. Maybe just the honeymoon period, or maybe I can handle it, but I definitely miss having him around.
• I: am wearing my wedding/engagement rings (have been for a couple days) again finally, am dressed entirely in non-maternity clothes (the jeans are Alyssa's that had shrunk and didn't fit her bigger hips, but are still too big for me, so I enjoy them when I need some roomier/comfy jeans) with a belt, straightened my hair before leaving the house (granted I didn't put on any makeup, but I wear it so infrequently, I would've spent more time looking for it than applying it), have 12 pounds left to lose before I reach my pre-pregnancy weight!
• I have accomplished: getting baby and myself ready to leave the house within an hour and a half of waking up (though we still ended up missing his doctor's appointment because he was marathon feeding - over an hour!), 2 loads of laundry, taking Nate lunch/dinner, eventually making it to the doctor (he's gotten the all-clear on his jaundice, by the way), read half of the blogs that I follow and have missed in the last week (will finish the rest shortly since he's down for a nap) and almost finished reading the book I started right before being admitted to the hospital, and ran to Babies R Us for more pacis/paci holders/breast pads.
• I have still not crossed off my to-do list: finishing my thank you notes from my shower (okay, okay, I WILL DO THEM TOMORROW, promise!), look at Hudson's baby book to see what milestones we've already hit - don't want to get too far behind from the get-go, write up his birth story so that I'll remember everything for years to come, finish unpacking from the hospital (so that we can stop tripping over bags laying around our bedroom), tidying up the house a bit, refilling the baby wipes at the changing station in the living room, finishing up our Christmas/baby announcement cards and the address list that goes along with it (I need to get those ordered TOMORROW so I can get them out ASAP, though with facebook, everyone knows all about him already), get frames for our newborn pictures that arrived today, finish laundry, take out the trash, restock our oven-ready meals, plan for Nate's work Christmas party (it's Wednesday - I don't know what we're bringing food-wise), go through my emails (every time I get a new one, it pops up the total unread on my phone - I think we're sitting around 127 right now), figure out travel arrangements for the girls Re: Christmas travel, and get the material finally picked out for the sling I'm having made for my cousin Cassy who also just had a baby (okay, it was like 2+ weeks ago and I've been fighting with her baby shower present for nearly 2 months - Target sent me an email saying it had been shipped out, then, 2 weeks later, that there was a problem with the order and it had been cancelled, and at that point, I decided to do something that didn't require technology).

Wow, that to-do list definitely outnumbers the have-done list, but I think that getting anything done is an accomplishment, and need to just remember that I'll never get this time back... so I intend to enjoy every feeding (even the frustrating ones), ever diaper change (even when I'm getting peed on), every coo, babble, and smile because I'm realizing that it's true: it all goes by so fast!

i can't believe i lost another two weeks since i blogged last!

It's been two weeks already?? Ugh! So much has happened, I don't even know where to start!  I guess I'll start now and work backwards.

Well with D-Day right around the corner, my to-do list has certainly started to look a little (ok, ok, a LOT) more ominous!

D-Day you ask? Yes! We got the all-clear yesterday that we're having little Hudson this weekend! On Tuesday, I went to my normal appointment (still making slow progress: went from a fingertip dilated to a fingertip and could feel his head to 1 cm, 50% effaced and "soft") and then to the specialist appointment for the BPP - but the day before, the specialist had agreed to bump the amnio up from next week's appointment to this one's.

So then yesterday I went back to my normal doctor for the results (which weren't in) and the Rhogam shot (since we didn't want to wait another 2 hours after the amnio for it) and was told to come back today for the results. And then I got the best call yesterday afternoon.  My favorite nurse called to say that the amnio came back, his lungs are mature, and we're going in at 7:30pm Saturday to start the induction!

Well, I guess that means it's time to step it up when it comes to my to-do list, since "before he gets here" is now only a matter of days away!

• clean entire house (like major clean - vacuum, mop, sweep, dust, put away unnecessary crap, tie off unsafe cords, scrub bathrooms)
• rearrange our bedroom (got to have somewhere to put the pack-n-play until he's ready to go in a crib in his own room, the lamp, and the humidifier)
• finish making foods to stock up our freezer (oh yeah, I guess that means I need to grocery shop!)
• get all of the Christmas presents together, make sure I've gotten everything, get them packed up to send to Mimi's house for wrapping
• buy my sister's birthday present (party next weekend that I'm helping chaperone?)
• get Natalie's outfit for her chorus concert
• figure out the travel schedule (especially with the girls) for Christmas
• wash/dry/fold/hang clothes (why does this seem never-ending??)
• finish thank you cards from baby shower (yes, I've procrastinated!)
• finish our Christmas/baby announcement cards, get the labels printed, order cards, get stamps, get ready to send out BEFORE time this year
• finish getting everything ready at work for me to be out and get my boss' s wife trained on how to be me on a daily basis - all in a matter of a couple hours at lunchtime today, because that's probably all the time I'm going to have to spend up there!
• repack my hospital bag - I've been putting this off because I knew that I'd want to have a rudimentary system in case I went into labor sooner, but since it's planned now, I can take the time to pack the stuff I really want to take
• shave my legs - haha, I don't even know why I'm bothering; it's going to take forever to reach them and they'll probably be splotchy, but it's the thought that counts, right?

If I Can't Keep Up With This Now, How Will I Be Able to Once He's Here?!?!?!

I've been so scatter-brained lately that I can't even begin to think about updating this blog... which is such a bad omen for days to come!

We've obviously had a few appointments and ultrasounds since I posted last, but not really a lot of new pictures (at least not what amounts to the usual barrage) and not too many updates... until recently.

At 33 weeks, he was measuring 4 pounds, 8 ounces and had HAIR!!

My cervix is still shortening, but there's not much they can really do about it now (especially since at this point, that's what they're supposed to be doing in preparation for birth).  As of my appointment at the OB on Wednesday (34 weeks), I'm dilated to "a fingertip" - which is around 1cm.  I've started having contractions consistently 20 minutes apart, but I'm having a hard time figuring out if this is the real deal.  They're not debilitating - just really uncomfortable, and they don't extend into my back - but my stomach gets rock hard!  So I guess we're just playing the waiting game now - wonder when little mister's going to make his grand debut!?!?!

Speaking of new arrivals: one of my really dear friends, Meagan, and her hubby, Aaron, welcomed their son Ethan Gray into the world last night! 6 lbs 8 oz 18 3/4" long.  They're all doing well, though Ethan's in NICU right now for observation (he was born at 38 weeks, but she was in labor with him FOREVER and had to have a c-section at the end, once they hit about 48 hours post-induction due to high blood pressure) - pictures to come!

oh how time flies... except when it doesn't...

Two years ago today, Nate and I went on our first date - skipped out of HoneyBaked around this time, enjoyed a little Olive Garden and Starbucks, and started our official future together.  Seems like just yesterday!

On a side note, we could have anywhere from 22-37 days left until Hudson is here... can we please hurry it on up?

ok, this post is out of order date-wise :-/ (are you surprised i'm playing catch-up?)

Ugh! I didn't post pictures from the baby shower! How will I choose which ones need to be documented here (versus Facebook, where all ~200 are proudly displayed)? Let's see if I can pick just a couple... 

It was an amazing time and I'm so blessed to have the support system that I do - and glad that everyone wanted to come out and celebrate our little miracle!

I ended up taking a week off of work to see if the "rest" would combat the shortening cervix, constant pain in my lower back and hips, etc.  Doesn't seem to have done anything for the cervix, but it was nice to be home in my pjs where I could slowly start nesting.

32 weeks was pretty uneventful for us - though I have to mention how mad I was at the hospital! It was the first ultrasound that Nate had been on this side of the country for in a while, and it was a growth ultrasound - meaning that we got to spend longer looking at more detailed aspects of our baby... or we would've if our tech hadn't been so apathetic.  She moved the wand around so quickly, I didn't even get a clear shot of anything except his heart.  He wasn't wanting to breathe for her (though he had a couple gasps and hiccups, which she - and only she - doesn't count), so all we watched was his diaphram for the entire appointment.  Not a single picture!! :(  But, he is measuring at 4 pounds, 8 ounces and looks like he's going to be a big/healthy/chunky little boy.

So it's holiday time again... :-/

Halloween: we're still having a hard time getting the girls to understand that there comes a point when you're too big to go trick-or-treating... Last year, we all went out for dinner and saw a scary movie, had the discussion that they were too big/old, and I thought that was the end of it.  But this year, they started in again with the "I want to be [insert random, hard to create on short notice, character here]".  Luckily, Nate was home early that night (I guess Halloween is an observed holiday with DriveTime and they closed at 6:30 to allow their people to induce sugar comas with their families) so we ordered pizza and a scary movie at home... and the girls still had to dress up for our 3 trick-or-treat-ers (Alyssa was a geisha and Natalie was Darth Maul).

Thanksgiving is right around the corner!  While it's one of those holidays that has, unfortunately, been so discombobulated over the years, I LOVE THANKSGIVING!  And I'm going to admit that I love it for the social reasons: food, food, and more food!  My hubby's family is Native American in descent, so it's got a slightly more... hostile?... feeling in our home, but this year, I'm focusing on the fact that I'm a million months pregnant and can eat everything in sight rather than the PC ramifications of waltzing into a country and booting all the natives - sorry, I'll be back to my normal self next year.  And speaking of Thanksgiving brings to mind turkey (though we always have ham instead), and I'd like to note that this turkey timer is just about ready to pop!

I've started thinking about our Christmas cards/baby announcements and have a few designs saved as favorites - just waiting on specifics of little mister and a photo op.  This year isn't going to be too exciting (the girls will be with their mom, we'll be sleep deprived from a newborn, etc), but I'm so thrilled that Hudson will be here in time for this part of the year!

What A Memorable Weekend!

So just  quick post to talk about all the momumental newness this weekend brought:

The girls each had a sleepover on Friday - now, I'm sure you're thinking "ok, so what did you do that was so memorable?", but that was the special moment. Since they've lived in Greensboro (and possibly before, discounting family and friends of the family, of course), the girls have never spent the night away from home. So they both got to enjoy a night away from home with a bunch of their girlfriends, and I got to think how nutso both of these mamas are with multiple teenagers + other siblings in their homes and appreciate the peace and quiet of a date night with my hubby!

I've been nesting... in very small increments. I took all the tags off the baby clothes one day. I washed one size another day, and another size after that. It's been about an hour of "work" at a time - mostly because I'm in nesting denial... until now. This weekend, I finally started panicking about the fact that Hudson could be here any time now and I didn't have the carseat washed and installed; I didn't have the bedding washed; I didn't have the crib or the pack-n-play set up - nothing! So we set to work and knocked out almost all of the nusery in one day.  All that's left is to paint the letters on the wall, stock up on a few more essentials, and figure out a plan for our living room that allows me an easy nursing place (since it's not going to happen in the nursery - no space for a glider/rocker/comfy chair in there!  But, if I do say so myself, it looks amazing - and I'm starting to feel a little more "ready"!

31.5 week ultrasound pictures

So little mister dropped some time last night, resulting in major pressure and more frequent contraction-y-type things... so this morning found me at the doctor.  They said they think everything's fine, though, so don't worry... just had to sit around at the office(s) forever - and we'll know more from the send-away test tomorrow.

That being said, I've been told that Peanut should grant Mommy's wish and stick around until at least after the baby shower Saturday (ya know, once his Daddy isn't on the other side of the country anymore?!?!)... and we got some cute pictures today.  He had the hiccups and was more mobile than I've seen him yet.  But, boy, is he running out of space in there!

Two Years!?!?!

Just a quick post that two years ago today, I started my new job at HoneyBaked Ham - where I met the love of my life. It's been a crazy two years and simultaneously feels like I've known Nate forever and that it was just yesterday that we started our journey together! Here's to many, many more years of memory-making!

Ah... Sisterly Love!

Natalie, 12 (left) and Alyssa, 14 (right) are 19 months apart... this means that they've spent their entire lives being together and sharing everything.  They share a room; they share clothes and makeup; they share games, movies, music.  They've always got each others' backs (which can be a little frustrating for parents when the "sister code" comes into play and we can't weasel information out of one about the other) and they genuinely are great friends.

This is NOT to say that they're anything alike though.  Alyssa likes pink and red, skirts/dresses and girliness, Avril Lavigne and the drama of middleschoolers.  Natalie loves purple and Star Wars, jeans and Converse, and is commonly labeled as our "tomboy".  While they almost always get along (sometimes with a little prompting, because, what kind of siblings would they be if they didn't fight every once in a while)... sometimes, they just have to attack each other!

28-31 weeks - I'm so behind!!

Wow, I'm back to being a blogger-slacker! I keep seeing all these posts that trigger ideas and/or think about things I want to share, but I just haven't had the time... or haven't made the time... Let's see if I can do a quick catch-up...

Woohoo Trimester 3!

At week 28, baby is about 16" long and officially weighed in at 2lbs 9oz at the growth ultrasound.  At last week's fluid ultrasound (which I forgot to mention in the previous post), the tech expressed some concern about a shortening of my cervix.  We were given the option of doing the progesterone pills to stop the progress or to watch it for another week and see if it was just a fluke... we decided to wait for another week.  When we went in this week, my cervix had shortened another 1/2-1cm (from 2.5-3 to 2-2.5) so they went ahead and gave me the prescription - and we'll see from here, but I'm SO not ready for his great debut!  I had a bit of a frustration/scare with my glucose test - which I expected to fail as it seems that I didn't actually HAVE gestation diabetes before, since the fasting reading is usually the first that goes wonky, and mine was the only one that wasn't failed horribly.  So when I went in for it this time, I took my blood sugar meter with me so I wouldn't have to wait - and when I took the reading after drinking the nasty concoction, I had failed it by 20 points! :(

Some pictures from this week's ultrasound:

29 weeks was a little lackluster in the progress report... went to the OB yesterday for a check up since the progesterone pills have been giving me terrible cramping (and other strange symptoms).  I was measuring at 30cm (which she said was beautiful) and have officially hit the 20 pound mark! The Braxton Hicks contractions are starting to get a little crazy uncomfortable, but I just remember that each one brings me a little closer to meeting our little Peanut!  Good news is that I found out that there's something terribly wrong with my blood sugar meter - my glucose test came back perfectly normal... NO GESTATIONAL DIABETES!!!

Baby was playing peek-a-boo with us at the ultrasound, which I've got to say is absolutely amazing and simultaneously kinda creepy!  He's getting really big, and we could see his little fat rolls around his ribs :)  Supposedly over the next few weeks (what's categorized as "month 7"), he's supposed to be about 15.2-16.7" long and 2.5-38 pounds... but we'll see for sure at the growth ultrasound on November 2nd.

 I just love the smirk in this one! :)

 He's got my nose

 This is my favorite from this week - he's sucking his thumb sideways!!

In other news, Nate is in Dallas this week for more training for his promotion (and will be headed back to Phoenix the week after next).  Natalie has joined Ping Pong Club and is loving the weekly meetings that they have. Yesterday she announced that they found another school with a PPC and will be having competitions (not exactly what I had in mind when I was thinking they needed healthy competition - ie sports team - but something that will boost sociability nonetheless).  Alyssa was nominated for the High Flying Falcon award (3rd consecutive year) for being an exceptional student and will get it at a ceremony tomorrow!  Next week she will be inducted into Beta Club as well!  My mom is coming to town this weekend to help with the cleaning/moving/organizing of the bedrooms - we're fixing up the girls' room to make it more efficient and getting the "game room" converted into the "baby room" in preparation for bringing home all the crap from my baby shower the weekend after next (afternote: the sunroom is about 60% filled with boxes/bags of stuff that's being donated to GoodWill - good job to the chicas for FINALLY being willing to part with some of their junk, er, "treasures")... and I think baby officially has a name!

30 Weeks:

 I was looking particularly small today, so I figured this would be a great picture to share... at this point, we were looking at about 6.5 weeks until we would be induced!

 Profile

He's already got the beginnings of a double chin!!

This is the beginning of the 31st week and it's starting to really sink in for me that we're VERY rapidly approaching the finish line!  The baby shower is this weekend at my mom's house - and while I don't want to seem greedy (because I just want to have everyone together that's supported us throughout the tumultuous times we've been through lately), I'm really looking forward to all the goodies that we'll be bringing home with us!  We have NOTHING at this point.  I bought a hand-me-down travel system (carseat and stroller) and swing from my friend Jessica; my parents have the crib and my mom bought a couple outfits.  Aside from that, I have a coming home outfit and a grand plan for his "nursery"... lol!  We were disturbingly productive when Mommy came to help us clean the other weekend, and have the "baby room" semi-cleaned and the girls' room is just about ready to go.  We still have to drill holes for the dresser knobs for both rooms, and then the girls' room will be set (and I'll post pictures then); they'll be able to get the last remnants of their stuff out of the old game room/baby room, and we'll be able to move forward with setting up baby stuff! 

Nate's in Phoenix again this week (the last traveling of the year; he'll go again for the graduation the first week of January) and while I still don't like it, I'm starting to get used to the traveling-spouse thing.  Natalie and Alyssa are keeping me busy with their newly-budding social lives: they want to go everywhere with everyone all the time!! Natalie is now doing both Ping Pong club and Art Club, and Alyssa is doing FACS (Food and Consumer Services) and Beta Club.  They've both mentioned sports, but haven't committed 100% at this point, but we should probably get on that, since track starts in December and softball starts just after the New Year and we still need to get physicals.  This week, I'm realizing that as much as I love being pregnant, it's starting to get old. I've been pregnant for the majority of the last 15 months (!!!) and I'd really like to be able to sleep on my stomach, eat and drink as I want, etc (which has started the beginning of a post called "Gripes and Grins").  I got my new camera this week (I'll take pictures of and with it this weekend at the baby shower and post them soon) and I can't wait to get started playing with it!!  I'm starting to get to the point at work where it might be time to start thinking about what's going to happen when I'm out as he's born - and I've started typing up very detailed step-by-step instructions of daily responsibilities (can you tell I'm trying to hang on as long as possible? I'm a little wishy-washy, lol).  They're bumping up my OB appointments to bi-weekly and continuing the weekly ultrasounds at the hospital, which means that I feel like I'm constantly running around!  Luckily, my employer has been wonderful and understanding in my here-and-gone schedule.  Doctor(s) tomorrow, so probably I'll tack the ultrasound pictures onto the beginning of the post that will come about the baby shower this weekend... and maybe I can attempt to stay caught up while riding the whirlwind for the next few weeks.