Day off or a day of appointments...

     Today (Tuesday, November 4th), I was privileged to have the day off from work. It wasn't much of a day off though. My day started at the same time it normally does... 7:30am. I got up, showered, and got the family ready for all our doctor appointments today.
      My appointment was 1st, at 10:30. I had a check up with my OB today. We got to hear the baby's heartbeat on the "radar thing" they use. The doctor said all my measurements line up to exactly where I should be. We scheduled the 20 week anatomy appointment for December 3rd. We are thoroughly excited to find out the gender of the baby. Like I said before, we are planning on having a gender reveal party. That will most likely be on December 6th.
      After my appointment, we had just enough time to eat lunch and make it to Braeden's 2 year check up. His doctor said everything looks great with him, and he's right on track with his development.
      By 4:00, I was exhausted. Since we were in the part of town not too far away from the mall, we made a stop there. I picked up some maternity clothes. My normal pants are starting to get a little sung. I had one full day on my plate. I am so blessed and thankful for it, though. It wasn't much of an actual day off, but it's my wonderful, busy life.

I feel like it's "Groundhog Day!"

       Well, I got up this morning and started my normal routien. I had not gotten Braeden out of bed yet because I wanted to let him sleep in just a little. As I was scrolling though Facebook on my phone, I looked up at the clock on the TV... It said 6:58 not 7:58 like I thought it was! We apparently changed all the clocks in the house but our alarm clock! I decided I would take this time and get somethings done on the computer... Like... My friend, Brittany, and I, just opened an Etsy account: etsy.com/shop/GeekedOutCraftsNMore ... There will be so many more items to come on there... We are working on several Christmas gift ideas. We are excited to finally get our stuff we make out there for others to enjoy. With this early and wonderful quiet time, I was also able to blog. Braeden won't let me have the computer open on my lap. The second he sees it, he closes it. I hoping, tomorrow, I finally won't be waking up an hour earlier than planned.

Daylight savings...

         Well for the first time in my life, I completely forgot all about the time change. We woke up this morning thinking we had slept in until about 9am....Nope it's 8am! We didn't even realize it until we grabbed our phones and saw the time. Well... At least we got an early start to the day! -Got to see the positive in the situation. 😳😃

Happy Halloween!

      Living in East Tennessee, the weather around Halloween is usually unpredictable, like any time of the year. What typically happens is, the 1st half of the week of Halloween, the weather is warm or decent fall-like weather. Then closer to the day of Halloween, temperatures seem to drop, and you are usually faced with figuring out how to keep your costume cute while staying warm. This year, the word "cold" doesn't quite touch it. There are places just a one or two counties over that got 5-7 inches of snow. Where we were had cold temperatures, rain/snow mix, and wind. Once we decided to brave the weather and actually go trick or treating, we had Braeden so bundled up, you could barely see what his costume was. He loved going up to the houses and saying, "Trick or Treat." He had a blast going around the neighborhood. We only did a a small amount of houses since it was so cold outside. Braeden loved it so much that he was upset when we finally came inside for the night. He loved his pirate costume, minus the hat, and didn't want me to take his costume off until he was ready for bed. Overall, it was a wonderful time had by all, even with the not so great weather.

Differences between the 1st child and 2nd child already!

      I was thinking back on the differences between my 1st pregnancy and my 2nd pregnancy  the other day. I realized there are already several things I've noticed to be different.
       Pregnancy wise, my OB hit the nail on the head when he said, "the first pregnancy is usually easier than the second one." My first time, I didn't have any complications at all. This time around, well you all know already... It's been a complete different tale. I have noticed, I feel like I am already starting to show some (earlier) with this baby. I do think I can already feel the baby move occasionally too. It's not the constant feeling you experience during the end of your pregnancy. This is much sooner than with my first pregnancy; I don't remember feeling Braeden's movements until about 22 or 23 weeks along.
      Excitement wise, we and family are just a excited about the 2nd baby as much as we were for Braeden. I have noticed though, I am not spending every waking moment of my day trying to find a name for this baby or planning the nursery, like I did when I was pregnant with Braeden. I think I've grown a little smarter. I realized that extra stress is not needed, yet. We are lucky to already have a name for a girl picked out already (we had that ready to go with the 1st pregnancy too, and then, I found out I had a boy... another story for another day!). I plan to wait until we know the gender before I begin that journey of stressing and planning. I have been making mental notes of things we definitely need to invest in before this baby comes that I had no clue about when I was pregnant with Braeden. Things like: better breast pump, my favorite diaper brand (Luvs), keeping a better schedule, etc.
        I have been told by several people that with each child, delivery seems to get easier. I hope that is true. I look forward to seeing how this baby's character is different or similar. I hope to do things a little differently this time around, now that we are more experienced with this parenting thing.

2nd Trimester!!!

    Well, let me be real with you for a few minutes. I am thrilled to be in my second trimester. Probably 2 days after my post about being 11 weeks, I started spotting. I called my OB, and he suggested I go to the ER to make sure every thing looks fine. After a complete melt down thinking of the possibilities I could be facing... and well 7 hours later, they determined it was essentially implantional bleeding. The radiologist said that it looked as if there was a little bleeding where the placenta did not fully attach at one corner. He advised that it did not appear that they placenta would become completely detached, and that everything seemed to be perfect, other than the spotting. I had a follow up appointment with my OB a few days later, and he said that at this point in the pregnancy there would either be a heartbeat or not. Luckily, there is and it's a strong heartbeat. -For all you wives tale believers, the heartbeat has been around 150, which would say Girl.... But my son's heartbeat was always high like that too. -
     Due to that scare, I'm considered a "threatened miscarriage" until I reach 20 weeks, but my OB stressed that everything looks completely fine. Now, that I'm past the 13 week mark, the likelihood of a miscarriage is highly unlikely. I am currently at 15 weeks, and fully into my 2nd trimester. All of my apps on my phone suggest that my sickness should be subsiding,my energy levels should be increasing, and libido levels should be going up (for most women). Apparently, I'm not "most women." My mother suggested that I'm still so exhausted because I'm still chasing after a 2 year old, which seems like a solid hypothesis. I have yet to feel my libido levels spike either. I am still facing the random spell of "morning" sickness, which my be the result of me not feeling like being intimate. I am sure plenty of women do feel all these positive things when they reach their second trimester... I know I did with my 1st pregnancy. They say every pregnancy is different, I am here to say, AMEN to that statement.
    Our next big step in this pregnancy.... Finding out the baby's gender. Any yes,we will have a gender reveal party this time!

Master of Disguise (disguising medicine, that is)

         So there's been so much going on lately with me and my family. My son has been battling an ear infection and croup. Apparently, his lungs are swollen too. So now, I have to find ways to get him to take his medicine. For a little while, he would do it himself, and we'd praise him for being a big boy. Now, nothing will get him to take medicine willingly. I tired the "pin down and put in the cheek" technique... That didn't work at all. In fact, it made him get sick. So since I know I can't force medicine on him, I have had to come up with some ways to hide the fact that he's taking it.

Fever Reducer:

      One thing his doctor suggested for his fever, is to try chewable tablets of Tylenol. He loves them and asks for more every time I give them to him. The other option, if your little one refuses either the liquid or tablet is suppositories. I have had to use them occasionally when his fever gets fairly high. That's when he's feeling his worse and refuses all medicine. It's a simple fix.(One medicine down, two to go...)


Antibiotic:

        His antibiotic (amoxicillin) is approved for mixing with food or drink...  That makes hiding is in his "tine" (Rich Chocolate Ovaltine) super easy. I just add a little extra drink mix to hide the flavor of the medicine. (Two down, one to go...)

 Steriod:

         The hardest one to hide or get him to take is his steroid. I play a game with him with the medicine dropper. I had to switch up the method of giving him medicine. He knew what the syringe was for... The medicine dropper is fun to him. I get a small cup of water and fill the dropper several times, letting him drink the water from the dropper. Then, I add half the dose of the steroid in the dropper while he's not looking. I put a little bit if water in the dropper too. He drinks it before he realizes what it is. He always makes a face, but it registers too late for him to spit it out. Then, I do a few more droppers of just water, then repeat the same process with the other half of the medicine. If this doesn't work... Try hiding the medicine in their cup. {Refer back to the antibiotic method with Ovaltine.} (Whew... Got him to take all his meds! Happy dance time!)

        He's been doing breathing treatments too, that's just a struggle that I have no answer for. Usually, I just tell him to sit and watch Mickey Mouse and ignore it's even there.  Oh the joys of motherhood... It makes you creative, that's for sure! I wouldn't change it for the world!

                                             Image from: www.imprintitems.com