Bring It

I am becoming pretty much useless. When at work I can’t think of anything besides baby preparations. When I’m at home I can’t do much that doesn’t involve the couch, my bed or the bathroom. I can’t walk for longer than about two minutes without my feet killing me. I can’t sleep longer than about an hour or two without waking up to pee or because the pain and tingling in my hands has gotten so bad that it woke me up. I’m thankful I have a husband who plays ball with our son, goes into the basement to play guitar and drums with him, etc. Because my ability to play with him is pretty much limited to what we can do sitting down – reading books, playing Candyland and playing trucks and cars. He’s watched a lot of Max and Ruby too, I’ll admit it.

I’m really excited about all the time we will get to spend together after Charlie is born, when I am no longer an itchy, swollen, exhausted, sweaty mess and we can actually get out of the house together, even if it’s just to the playground across the street.

I’m also really excited to see his reaction to Charlie once he is a living, breathing person in our house and not just a lump in Mommy’s belly. Right now he is super excited about the baby. He wants to hug my belly, talk to Charlie, talk about how he will be a big brother and he will give Charlie gentle hugs and help me change his diapers and lay him down for naps. And I know there will be bumps in the road, but I do believe that my sweet little man will make an amazing big brother.

People keep asking me if I’m ready for the baby and in most ways, yes, I am. I will miss our little family of three but I know that once Charlie is here I won’t be able to fathom a time when he wasn’t part of us. Just like I can’t imagine a time when Cash wasn’t here. We’ve got diapers, wipes and clothes out the wazoo. We have a car seat ready to be installed. I’ve got my boobs. So yeah. I am ready. Ready to not be pregnant. Ready to snuggle a newborn again. Ready to snuggle all my boys together. Ready to take this next step.

Scratch That

Well, it is looking like little man may be joining us a little sooner than expected. I went to the doctor yesterday where she witnessed me clawing at my skin like an addict in withdrawal and was like yeah, I don’t think we should drag this out to the 27th. She is testing my liver enzymes and bile acids again but we’ve done that twice already and they were normal both times, so I am doubtful that is the issue. She said if they come back normal again, we have some options. We can do an amnio early next week to test his lung maturity and if he’s ready, we could do my c-section on the 14th. If we don’t want to do the amnio, or if we did it and his lungs aren’t mature yet, we can wait and do it on the 21st. That puts me one day shy of the required 39 weeks for a scheduled c-section, but she thinks under the circumstances she could push it through.

Right now we are leaning toward just going for the 21st since it doesn’t seem to make much sense to go through an amnio and force him out two weeks early just because I’m itchy and puffy. However, I reserve the right to change my mind if the itching keeps getting worse. I can’t even describe how maddening it is to itch all over your body and have no way to stop it. I think the government should give up on water-boarding and go with itch powder as an interrogation technique.

My Handsome Boy

Baby Charlie is working hard at keeping up with his big brother. He weighs in at 5 pounds, putting him about two weeks ahead of where he "should" be at this stage (32 weeks). There is definitely a resemblance between him and Cash, but enough of a difference that a couple of people have said they see more of Jason in him. Here's the little booger in all his glory:





And, for comparison, here is one of Cash's 4D pictures:

Conversations with a 3-year-old

Cash (who just barged into the bathroom this morning): Mommy, you're so cute. I mean, you don't have any clothes on, but your hair is cute. I bet you'll look even cuter when you put your clothes on.

Yay!

I got a call from my doctor’s office today to schedule my c-section! Unless he decides to come early, Charlie will arrive on Tuesday, March 27th! Cash was also born on a Tuesday, which is sort of cool. I’m a little nervous that he will be even bigger than Cash since that is only two days before my original due date. I say “original” because he has measured at least a week ahead at every ultrasound since they landed on that due date. Cash was born 8 days ahead of his due date and weighed 9 ½ pounds. I know Charlie is his own person and could very well be born a pipsqueak, but he could also break the 10-pound mark. I guess only time will tell. Either way, I’m getting ridiculously excited to meet the little guy!!

“Good” Parenting

I’ve always said that the best parenting advice I could give anyone is to follow your instincts. Mine told me to let Cash nurse whenever he wanted, to let him sleep in our bed, to let him self-wean, to avoid the cry-it-out method like the plague, etc. And I’ve never regretted any of those decisions. However, now that he’s older, the decisions are getting harder, and as much as I hate it, my instincts don’t always guide me down the right path. I was clearly reminded of this on Friday night when we ran into his preschool teacher at Chick Fil A. She greeted Cash with warm hugs and you could see the genuine affection they have for each other, which was nice. And when Cash ran back into the play area, she happily told me about the big difference she sees in him since the beginning of the year – more outgoing, more talkative, loves to tell stories, etc. The proud mama in me just soaked everything in, agreeing that he has come a long way indeed.

Then came the part about how she’s been encouraging him to stick up for himself. Apparently she saw another boy in his class knock him to the floor, and Cash wasn’t saying anything in response to this (horrible, bratty) kid. So she told Cash that when someone treats him that way, he needs to tell them to stop and that he doesn’t like what they’re doing. Apparently it sunk in because this same little boy (seriously, kid? What is your deal?) apparently likes to annoy other kids during snack by taking his food and putting it on others’ napkins. So when he did it to Cash, he told him to stop it and he didn’t like that.

Now, I know that the teacher’s responses were appropriate (assuming the offending child also got some sort of discipline, like a time out, which I didn’t ask about). However, what my instincts tell me to do is point out to Cash how much taller and bigger he is than the other kids in his class and if one of them messes with him, just lay them out and they won’t do it again. I know, I know, totally wrong, and I didn’t actually say that to Cash, but it’s what I WANT to tell him. And honestly, it’s what I may eventually tell him if he runs into this problem when he’s older. I’m all for using our words and talking out our problems, but for some people, the only thing they respond to is being put in their place. And, despite his sweet and gentle personality, Cash has the physical attributes to do just that. He’s going to be a tall, broad-shouldered guy with big hands and feet, and if he occasionally needs to employ those things when provoked, I don’t have a problem with that.

Also, as the Mom who is sponsoring the Valentine’s Day party, there might be one kid who doesn’t get a cupcake...

In all seriousness, bullying is a huge issue these days and I don’t really know how I will handle it if Cash gets bullied in school. Although we’ve had our issues with him lashing out at Jason or me, I can say with conviction that he would NEVER do that to another child or even any other caregiver besides his parents. And I can only imagine how he felt when that little boy did that to him. He is very sensitive and takes things to heart very easily. And the thought of another kid hurting his feelings just kills me. I also wonder why he didn’t tell me or Jason about it. I guess it’s possible it wasn’t that big of a deal to him, and he didn’t think to mention it. Or that he’s three and has a really short attention span so by the time he saw us, he had just forgotten about it. I’ve been asking him since September what he’s learned in Spanish and he’s said “Nothing” every time. Then this weekend he starts naming off all the colors in Spanish. The 3-year-old brain is hard to figure out...

An Open Letter

Dear public at large:

I have a tiny news flash for you – it is sort of required that, when creating a human being – a woman must gain weight. Her belly will get bigger. And bigger. And then even bigger. Now read this part carefully: it is NEVER appropriate to comment on someone else’s weight or size unless you are telling them how wonderful they look. It is rude and often hurtful. And I am not a delicate flower when it comes to these things. For the most part I just laugh at how incredibly insensitive people are and continue with my day, you know, CREATING LIFE. What boggles my mind the most is that most of these comments come from women who have had children. You would think that someone who had experienced this themselves would know better. I swear on my maternity jeans, I will NEVER say any of the following things to a pregnant woman (and yes, these are all things I have personally heard from people):

Are you sure you have (insert amount of time until due date) to go? You look like you could pop any day!

Are you sure there’s only one baby in there?

Wow, that’s going to be a big baby!

I remember how big you got with your first – was he a big baby?

I think you’ve gotten even bigger since the last time I saw you!


You know what it IS ok to say? “You sure are a beautiful pregnant woman.” That’s what one of my Mom’s nurses told me last night. And boy, did I need to hear that. Or, you know, you could just NOT comment on the way someone looks. How about a simple “Wow, I bet you’re getting excited!” or “How are you feeling?”

The moral of the story: Pregnant women are still women. If you wouldn’t say it to someone when they aren’t pregnant, don’t say it when she is.

Sincerely,
Apparently the most giant pregnant woman in the world