Found a gift I REALLY want to get Brian, but I've already brought him his "BIG" gift....I brought him a Vltow Emod A5 Kit Mil-Spec Collapsible Buttstock Assembly for his AR-15.


OK, so, this is actually a totally "made" gift. I say this is his "big" gift because it was expensive, but the fact of the matter is that everything for my husband's guns costs $$ (We are a NRA friendly, 2nd Amendment defending, gun wielding family...and we're not hillbillies ;).  He builds guns, collects them, shoots them, etc...He's not the BEST shot, but is working on it! Me too :)


So, this is an item that he can and will use....Plus, he's been begging me for various gun parts for birthdays, holidays....Usually we are throwing as much $$ as we can in savings, so this is special...I also plan on making him some scrubs for his birthday :) I have a pattern, I just need the fabric! It will be my first sewing machine project, and it will be "easy." Trying to think of other things I can make for him. He wants a digital camera (he writes gun articles and takes pictures of parts/pieces for blogs and submission to magazines, and he's been using my camera...He wants his own)....I can't make that!


I've made organizers, stuffed animals and pillows in the past, as well as simple mending, etc... But I have never taken on clothing or really creative projects. I hope I do a good job. lol. I also want to work on that quiet book....Need to map out ideas!


So anyway...Not too much going on. My little girl is fitting more and more into 12 month clothing (which is awesome, as she is 12 months old)...She is just so thin! No unhealthy thin, but she is very lean....Still hoping it has to do with daddy's "skinny" genes. I come from a Polish/Austrian background. We are not a naturally thin people....lol....Not to say that I am not in shape when I am not pregnant, but it's all in the genes. I have "thick" genes. Daddy has slim and trim genes - he can eat anything and not exercise (not a recommended practice) and not gain anything....Mommy has to watch it :)


:o)

Survived...

Well, we all survived Irene :) Actually, my family wasn't directly in the path, and we definitely did not get the worst of it.

We live in south eastern PA, about 50 minutes west of Philadelphia...Away from large waterways, but we do have many trees and winding waterways around here.

I drove through it, and to tell you the truth, it wasn't as bad as it could have been. It was pouring rain and large branches were everywhere. The wind was pretty intense too, and we had no power for 24 hours, but it still wasn't as bad as it could have been (i.e as bad as it was around waterways and coastal areas). In fact, by Sunday night, you couldn't even tell that there had been a hurricane (at least around my drive to and from work). *sigh*

Today I brought a printer, a belated anniversary present to Brian and me. We'd been talking about buying it together, but hadn't actually bought it. One day, ma showed me on HSN.com where they were selling a Kodak printer for $99, lots of features, and free shipping. We still talked about it, but didn't buy it....Then I saw that the price went up to $129, so it kind of fell by the wayside - until today when I went to Walmart for a dehumidifier (we weren't totally impermeable to the hurricane) and found the exact same printer on sale for $99. That's how much I paid for my old one a few years ago....SO, we are the proud new owners of a Kodak Office 2150 (we've been using the same printer I began using in college). lol. We had been using a HP F340, a printer I've had since beginning college (early 2000s) SO....There it is. What's even better, I hooked it all up, so it's all ready to surprise my husband (he wasn't able to print from his computer before..) I hope that he is happily surprised!

OK well....I think that the baby is sleeping now, so I am going to get ready for bed myself!

*sigh*

Living on the east coast has always been great, and now all we're hearing about lately are earthquakes and hurricanes.

....Not only do I  have to get family prepared and ready to hunker down, but I have to head off to work, because I am "important" staff (hospitals can't run without nurses, aye?)

I live a good hour from work, and half the drive is wooded, so during the end of Jan and early Feb is when it's usually the most scary to get time to get to work....

We've had hurricane residual up here before, but I think what makes this so different is the fact that the hurricane is coming UP the coast and HITTING it, potentially hard. That's new for us...

I am not so sad about going to work, but I am a bit nervous about driving around all those trees. Really...I've been caught in the trees before during ice storms and it's no fun. Well, I didn't HIT the trees, but I've been caught in traffic behind other cars that have....

East coasters, unless you need to be on the road this weekend, please stay off of it so that people who absolutely need to be on it (like myself) can drive like grannies and still get to and from work at a decent hour (as opposed to everybody being on the road driving like grannies and causing major congestion and more accidents)!

Just a few pics to commit to online blog...

Baby, mommy (and little Jr., behind the stroller in mamma's belly) in Gettysburg...

 

 My one year old taking a nap...We are not "Pooh" fans here, but this pooh was a gift and the baby seems to like it!

Bath time! They either love the baths, or hate them....Mine loves them. Gorgeous baby girl!

Will need to take more pictures sometime soon:) Preferably after pregnancy is over with!

Spanx!

TOTALLY just splurged on a "Power Mama" maternity belly and thigh shaper from Spanx...(FYI, until the 30th of September, the Spanx website is offering free ground shipping. Didn't know that until I was ready to make my purchase - lovely surprise!)

I am excited to get it...

I never feel comfortable when I am pregnant, and shapers help me psychologically, not just physically :)

I am one of those "lucky" people who don't have rolls or back fat or anything like that, but when I am pregnant, my entire lower belly and upper thigh section balloon in ways that are only possible because of pregnancy! Regardless of whether or not I truly have rolls pop out of that, I find that I feel more comfortable when I am wearing my belly band (which isn't really for support as much as fashion and prolonging the use of your pre-pregnancy clothing), but to actually buy something made TO support you, well, that's pretty exciting.

I've never purchased Spanx anything before, but Brian and I were watching late night QVC (we find home shopping networks interesting at times, though we've never made a purchase...lol) and a rep was on for the company talking about their materials (they were trying to sell ladies body shapers and spanx shirts), and I thought "do they have anything like that for pregnant women?"

Yes, yes they do. We'll see how it turns out :)

My little girl turned 1 year old last weekend. It was wonderful. I was at work on her b-day, but called her and we celebrated the next day (which was also Brian's and my anniversary). I brought her a lot of blocks. I want her to be a creative child, and so I am trying to steer away from the more computerized child toys and get her into the stuff I played with as a kid (including cardboard boxes and household things that are benign, but interesting to a baby). heehee. She's such a happy little girl, I love her to itty bitty pieces!

Brian and I are thinking about going back to my old doctor's office. Sure I had 4 doctors instead of just 1, but I knew them all, and they were all female (a big plus for me), and at least I knew what I was getting there....

I've moved hospitals, and it's been a bit of a headache. First of all, my insurance covers 20% less through this hospital and network so I am getting 70% coverage instead of 90%.

I mean, I paid for tests at Reading as per my deductible, but at Chester County the bills keep coming. It's ridiculous. I didn't even GET a bill for my actual delivery, except for a bill for the epidural which I knew was something I'd have to pay separate for anyway. I have a feeling if I go through with this birth at Chester County Hospital, I am going to have many many more bills. It's time to stop the insanity now I think....

45 minute drive to the hospital...*sigh*...Well, labor shouldn't be THAT fast :)

Soooo...

Today is my birthday, and one thing I realize as the years go by is that the actual celebratory date of my birthday is less and less of a factor every year.

I think in high school is when people, friends/family, started playing down the day. My parents never treated their days as "special," and very few of my friends really had big birthday bashes (though when they did, it was a lot of fun!). I want to have that.

I've always loved birthdays, and it's not that people don't love me, it's just that very few people know the art of throwing a wonderful birthday party. It's also not about the size of the gift. I was thinking about this, and you know what? It really is true that ONE THING that is heartfelt and has meaning is so much better to me than the most random gift, even if it's like, some new, fun technical gadget that everybody is talking about, or an expensive, all inclusive cruise package to the Caribbean (though, that would be very thoughtful and original).

Well, anyway - I woke up early this morning, read my Bible and had my quiet time, did a load of laundry, washed the dishes, emptied the trash, took a shower...and my baby and husband are still sleeping. lol. Well, it's nice to have time to myself too! Happy birthday to me!

Love languages. I think that as far as receiving, I am an acts of service type of gal. When someone does something for me or puts himself/herself out there for me, it makes me feel very special and warm and gooey inside. Quality time is a close second. I love people and spending time with friends and family is A1 to me!  As far as what I give to show love, I think I am more of a gifts kind of girl, as well as acts of service. I just want somebody to know that I am thinking about him/her, and that he/she is special to me!

Well, right now I am spending a lot of quality time with Jr., the little man in my belly. He is tossing and turning and making himself known night and day. I love my little boy, and am very excited to meet him this December.

My little girl's birthday is this Sunday. It's hard to believe that on the 11th of August last year, I was at work having Braxton Hicks contractions and feeling awful. I knew that would be my last day of work before the baby was born. I was due to have her on the 21st, but I knew she would be coming early. The 11th was a Wednesday last year, and that Thursday and Friday I felt horrible. I had a doctor's appointment, and I was already 4cm dilated, so I thought for sure when I was at the doc's that she was going to tell me to go to the hospital. No such luck. She had said, however, that she felt I would have the baby that weekend.

Sure enough, Friday the 13th of last August around 2100 I started having my regular 90 second contractions every 5 minutes. Brian had requested off work that day to take care of me, as I was really in a sad state Thursday and Friday (nothing how I pictured a woman in labor to be like. It's always portrayed as a surprise and an "ahh! My water just broke!" type of thing). We has just watched the movie "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," and I felt that searing pain from the front of my abdomen to my back. Well, not to mention I lost my mucus plug. It wasn't like a flood of water, or even like I peed my pants - it was a lightly bloody mucus discharge I noticed when I went to the bathroom.

So I called the doc office, and they said "OK, some to the hospital." We drive to the hospital with our bags, because we were almost certain that I would be admitted. Surely enough in triage they said "OK, you're going to have  baby!" This was the happiest thing anybody could have told me, because I felt more than ready to go....

So they do all that they do in the hospital for a normal birth - they hooked me up to IV fluids and took my vital signs. Then we walked. We walked the halls for a long, long time. The labor and delivery unit was surprisingly barren for being the middle of August (the most popular birth month). There were MAYBE two other women on the unit? I walked for hours, and that didn't really help me. I was still only dilated 4cm, and the pain was kicking it up a notch. I was trying to hold out on the pain medicine, not because I wanted to "be strong" or have a baby like they did before the times of modern medicine, but because I only wanted them to stick a needle in my spine (epidural) as a last resort. I know epidurals are pretty routine in a hospital birth, but that doesn't mean there aren't women who have suffered nerve damage or paralysis from such a stick. Why risk your spine?

So I took the Nubain (like fentanyl), which helped for a bit, but when those contractions came back, man, they came back with fury. I was shaking uncontrollably for a long time, and was NOT dilating. I felt like I couldn't control anything. Brian was freaking out (quietly, but the look of horror was evident on his face). I figured I ought to take the epidural. It had been hours at this point, of shaking an shaking and I was not dilating - and in the recesses of my mind I had a bit of lucidity and figured that if I didn't find some way to  relax, I would never dilate enough to get this baby out. Reluctantly but confidently, I asked for the epidural. Obviously I did not suffer any adverse consequences or the stick or the Ropivacaine (the nerve block used in the epidural), but even that they had to let wear off by the time it came time to push.

Oh yes, make no mistake about that one. By the time push came to shove (well, actually an hour or so before) they stopped the Ropivacaine so that I could be full alert to push - and I felt EVERYTHING.

Ouch is an understatement, but should be noted....

And she felt like she'd never come. I was one of those idiots who asked for a mirror to watch her come out, and it was torture - for every good push I had, I'd see her head come out more and more, only to be sucked back in with every "relaxation." Again, I felt as if she would never come and stay in there forever.

Well, forever only took 45 minutes and then she was a slimy blob of goo in my arms! I couldn't quite conprehend that she was "mine," but accepted it none the less with great happiness. I didn't even feel the afterbirth come out. I did tear, however (I didn't feel it when it happened), but I did feel the doctor stitching me back up. However, after pushing a human out of a hole that small on my body, do you think I cared about being stitched up?

Brian made it out OK too. I only slightly raised my voice to him one time when he kept repeatedly rubbing the same spot on my thigh as I was pushing. I must have said something like "Will you PLEASE stop that??" because he was like, "Oh, sorry...Sorry, sweety!" To this day he tells me every time he rubs my thigh that he thinks of that morning in the delivery room when I snapped at him...

:)

You don't forget it immediately you know. My mother said to me a long time ago, "you know what Michelle? Right after you have that baby, all the pain goes away, everything goes away and you are ready to do it again."

Really mother? It took me WEEKS before I could even BEGIN to fathom having a baby. They don't talk about AFTER birth. I was sore down there for weeks. You also bleed down there for days afterwards (which is expected and necessary for cleaning out the uterus). Because of being stitched up (for tearing), I was tender there and wiping  after pottying hurt. I had to have a sitz bath after every time I had a BM (sorry if that's TMI, but it's the truth). Also not to mention the fact that your belly feels like play dough until it all goes down over time. I hadn't had my pre pregnancy belly back for a few weeks before I found out I was pregnant with number two!

So we get to do this all again in December. It's all worth it though. All of it. I have the cutest, best and sweetest little girl on the planet (albeit curious, fast and smart).

Here's to an uneventful pregnancy and birth! May it continue to be uneventful!

Ah HA!

If Brian and I were very rich people, and I in the delicate state I am in, I would make him take me to this restaurant  and sample various types of caviar...

Though, I don't think caviar is exactly pregnancy safe (or vegan). Classic example of wanting what's not good for you. lol. Well, maybe if I got some sort of pasteurized caviar, but somehow, I don't think that would taste quite as nice...

For some reason, I am wanting caviar right now - not the lumpfish type, but the Iranian sturgeon kind... ha. I don't even know why...I've tried the cheaper stuff and it's not really that great, but I have a feeling that if I could sink my teeth into something a little more rare, it would really hit the spot (though, caviar is hardly vegan. lol). What in the world is MY world coming to?

Pregnancy is not fun. Not at all. I am tired of it. Four more months to go!

Then I am taking a much needed break.

I have a little handful already. My daughter is sweet as a peach, but she is "go,go,go!" and gives me kisses and hugs in passing as she runs back and forth all over the place... A rounding belly is not making chasing this little mover very easy...I can't imagine how two is going to impact our lives here, but at least I won't be pregnant again...At least not right away!

...and this time, a little boy! I hope, to an extent, he is a "mama's boy." lol. I mean that only in a sense that I want a baby to CUDDLE.

Tatum was a cuddle bug when she was immobile, but as soon as she started wiggling and moving, she wanted away! Of course she still loves the security of mommy and daddy and plays and kisses, and there IS cuddle time, just not as much as I'd like :)

So you see, hopefully I will have a son who enjoys the cuddle time :)

Medicine, schmedicine

Blah - So, baby ultrasound (21 week) this past Friday showed that "everything is great, within normal limits, BUT the left kidney is at the larger end of normal..." meaning they want to send me to a follow up appointment for ANOTHER ultrasound (this will be my third ultrasound so far this pregnancy) just to make sure his kidneys are still normal??? WTH?

I mean, I understand doctors make recommendation for follow up appointments because they want to "be sure" of things, but to me, this is a little ridiculous. When the RN called me earlier this week to tell me maternal fetal medicine would be contacting me for another follow up ultrasound, I couldn't compute at first because it doesn't make sense, everything is normal, but they want to make sure it stays normal? Then why not do 4 week ultrasounds regularly after 20 weeks for normal babies? Because it's ridiculous, that's why.

My last pregnancy I had but one ultrasound, and that was my 20 week ultrasound to measure all the organs. This pregnancy, I've already had two, the first one was apparently a "pregnancy diagnosis" ultrasound at 11 weeks, the second was the measure of the organs, which we have established EVERYTHING IS GREAT - heart and chambers are wonderful, spine is A1, brain and all the ventricles are beautiful, liver, bladder, KIDNEYS...

OK, so one kidney is greater end of normal, but still WNL. I understand doctors want to follow up ultrasound - but I honestly believe that nothing is wrong with my baby. My husband and I have prayed about it, and I have my intuition - but spiritual stuff amounts to a hill of beans in the medical world. I suppose I can understand that, because there are weirdos out there, but that doesn't mean you should discount everybody who believes in the Great Healer for crying out loud.

Even if the kidney was larger than normal, what would they do about it, except repeat ultrasounds to see if it goes down? Nothing, that's what. OK, maybe consult a urologist post birth or prescribe antibiotics if the baby has urinary retention and develops a fever, but there is nothing in the womb (that I've read about anyway) that they do for babies with large kidneys/one large kidney. In fact, I read that this is common in boys in the womb, and 9 times out of 10 means nothing and corrects itself before birth.

My big beef here is on two planes. 1) The fact that doctors, as great as your doctor may be, is almost obligated by all the power of Hippocrates and the medical world we live in, to check you to death, scan you until the cows come home, to make sure you are healthy. Well doctor, I didn't have my first pap smear until I was 26 years old, and you know what was found? NOTHING! I also was not sexually active until marriage (in any way shape or form) and married a man with the same principles. If you are sexually active young, or have HIV or a weak immune system by all means get your paps yearly, but what good would that do me? My immune system is strong and I have no risk of cancer in my family

Anyway,

Number 2) beef is that insurance only covers so much, and nobody can tell you how much tests cost. Usually, this is where I begin my "Capitalism will save American Healthcare" speech, but I will save you that for now, suffice to say that we don't know WHAT we pay, or are expected to pay, for a hospital visit, doctor visit, test, etc...

I will say, that I have been paying between $200-$300 out of pocket per ultrasound, so my wallet is not looking forward to another $200-$300 test that I don't "need" if my baby has normal kidneys (ok, one kidney slightly large end of normal, but still WNL).

The hubs and I work at one particular hospital, but we get healthcare out of network for this baby because the hospital we are going to is closer to home than the one I work at, and I am not all about driving 50 minutes to a hospital when I am in labor....SO, we are up to speed with our deductibles and how much % the insurance company will pay for my hospital delivery, but if no one can tell us precisely HOW MUCH tests cost, how can we better plan? At least if I know an ultrasound costs "this much," and my insurance will pay 70% of that cost, then I know what I will be out of pocketing, but if I don't know the actual cost of procedure, each bill in the mail is a surprise (and not a good one).

So let's say that I DO go and get this ultrasound and wouldn't you know, his kidney is a little larger, or hasn't changed and the doctor wants to do ANOTHER one in 4 weeks - besides being superfluous, as I may as well could have waiting 8 weeks or more for the test, I will have even more out of pocket expenses, and for a budding family trying to save for a house, birthdays, and Christmas, that $200-$300 really adds up - not to mention blood work required, glucose tolerance test, RhoGam injection (I'm RH-) , and whatever else they nickel and dime me for - again, it all adds up.

Plus, if they are not going to do anything in 4 weeks time, maybe send me for another test in another 4 weeks if things are abnormal, wouldn't it stand to reason that it's better to get a test 8 weeks later instead of 4? The "problem" (permitting there actual is a problem) would have more time to rectify itself, or if it has changed into a bigger problem, well, you really wouldn't be doing anything differently for me or the baby anyway (at least not according to my own research).

It's scary to think that something could be wrong with your baby if the doc's office is scared for you, but you can't lose your head. I really care about my baby, and of COURSE I want to know and fix it if there's a problem...but there is nothing really that they are going to do in utero - and I am going to have to talk to the doc about this at my next appointment, because if she absolutely convinces me that this is necessary, then we are going to do it later in the pregnancy, not sooner - there is no point. Any surgeries they do they have to wait until after birth anyway, because they sure as hell and heaven are not doing an amnio or CVS on me, or anything where they have to puncture the womb or get invasive. Forget it. 

Hmm

Very excited to homeschool - It's still a few years away, but I am going over all the things to do, and it's very exciting!