2 weeks down....

Well, the husband went back to work. This is day 3 or being alone with the girls. I am not complaining... I did take a few adventures on my own before he left so I knew I could do it alone... it is always nice to have an extra set of hands though. Alex asked me last night when we could go outside and I told her, on Daddy's day off. :o) With a baby that does not like the wind and two active girls that drag every possible toy out, it just seemed like too much.

Dylan is a good baby. For the most part, she eats, sleeps, poops and pees. She gets fussy when she has a poopy diaper or when she is tired (or if she needs to eat and isn't fed immediately). Taylor is a good big sister. I am not too sure she realizes that anything has changed. As long as she gets about 10 minutes of Mommy time each day, she is fine. Alex on the other hand is having a tough time adjusting... She has been the harder child even before Dylan came out though. She has a tough time listening most days and was waking earlier than normal - which entailed naps pretty much every day in exchange. It is getting better, but she has a tough time allowing the baby to sleep instead of pestering her all the time.

Here is my frustration. I expected my baby weight to melt off a little quicker... I am 2.5 weeks out and have lost half my baby weight (27 lbs). Saturday and Sunday I did Jillian Michaels 30 day Shred, so hopefully workouts help.... I cannot fit into any jeans I own yet.... I was in a size 10 when I got pregnant and a 14 still is tighter than I am comfortable. We are seeing old friends from Kansas over the 4th and I am hoping to lose a good deal of the remaining 27 lbs before then. I know my toughest part is watching what I stick in my mouth....

She's here!

Dylan Marie Arnegard arrived Friday May 14th at 6:01 pm.

Her birth was induced the day before my due date.

She entered the world weighing 8 lbs, 5 ounces and was 21 inches long. She has dark brown hair and blue eyes.
She loves to eat, sleep and poop.

Her big sisters Alex and Taylor could not be happier to have a new baby in the family.

Still here...

I guess I should update my blog since I got one call and one text yesterday asking if I still had the baby or how I was doing...

I was unmotivated to post anything after my uneventful doc appt on Monday. Last Thursday (5/6) I went in and had my membranes stripped. Saturday, Sunday and Monday I was crampy with painful contractions. When I went to the doc Monday afternoon, I had only progressed from 10% effaced and 1 cm to 40% effaced and 1 cm. I was super duper disappointed that with all the cramps, pressure, and pain that was all I had progressed. I had my membranes stripped again which sent me to the ceiling of the office....

So... I went home and did what any rational expectant Mom would do. I loaded my girls in the double jogger and took them on a a 3.5 mile walk. It really didn't do anything for my contractions.... they were barley there at all.

Yesterday I was still feeling down about this lack of progress, so I took recycling in (3 huge trash bags of plastics, 2 bags of plastic bags, 1 overflowing tote of cardboard and a box of newspaper) - then I went shopping. I spent $120 of my birthday/Mother's Day money and got 5 t-shirts, 3 tanks, 1 pair of casual capri's, 1 pair of jeans and 1 pair of athletic pants. I hit the clearance racks and think I got some cute items that are a little bigger for after baby.

So, after my time alone, I came home and ate lunch with the husband and kids. The husband made homemade mac & cheese and defrosted some leftover chili to put in ours. Funny thing is that he put probably 1/2 cup of chili in his bowl of pasta where he put about 2 tablespoons in mine. I am not complaining. I got the flavor without heartburn which is something since french toast made with leftover beer bread gave me heartburn as well as a strawberry banana smoothie that I made later in the day. Of course as did the nachos I made for dinner, but can a PG lady really eat Fiesta Nacho Cheese sauce and expect no hb? :o) I also walked my 1.5 miles on the treadmill after I got home despite the incredible pain and pressure - but I made it!

So, I am up this early again... the birds started chirping at 4 am. The husband got up for work, but I was up before that having contrax about 5 minutes apart... Nothing painful or too annoying... so I thought I would eat since my stomach was growling (isn't it always?!) - and drink some water to see if it helps the contrax. Planning to go walk with the kids around the zoo this morning with friends....

The birds start chirping....

Did you know that the birds start chirping between 4:30-5 am?!

They do.

I have been cursed with pregnancy insomnia for what 8 months or so now. Usually I wake early to pee, tend to one of the already born kids, or both and cannot get back to sleep. Or like this morning, when the husband gets up at 4 am to go to work... I am used to this by now and I do not try to fight laying in bed forever and not sleeping, so I typically get up. So, it is 5:30 am and I have been awake for at least an hour now... to avoid waking one of those before mentioned born children, I sneak downstairs to enjoy some Captain Crunch and a glass of chocolate milk. I may be able to fall back asleep for a little bit before I need to be up with the kidlets....

Today I am going to a Mom's Club Mother's Day brunch and then hitting the doc's office again in the afternoon. The girl's Great Grandma will be coming over to watch them for an hour and a half or so while I go to the doc's.... they are very familiar with her, but this is her first time babysitting for me. I just hope the girls do not melt down when I leave.....

Last belly picture?

Could this be my last belly pic? We shall see!!

Snow in May?!

Really, is this necessary?? When I went to bed last night there was still just rain. I woke up this morning to white stuff at least where I can see on the deck. Hello Mother Nature!! It is MAY! We are supposed to have sunny skies, warm temps to let our kids outside to play and lots of flowers to look at! Days like this, I do not think I have "settled" into North Dakota.... not that it is warm or nice in Oregon where I am from - but I bet flowers are blooming (oh, wait - oh neighbors here had flowers blooming last week too - they are probably dead now!). Despite the thunderstorms (and occasional tornado), I liked the Kansas weather. Well, I say that loosely.... I hated the 100 degree humid summers, so I guess if I want to escape the KS heat, I have to take the ND snow?!

Well, I guess our Coffee and Chat this morning will be inside at the mall.

We're progressing!

Today at the doc I was 1 cm dialated and 10% effaced, wth baby at -2. I got my membranes stripped (which made me rethink an epirual this time). I also go in Monday afternoon and Thursday morning for more stripping. This has made me more crampy and contrax more painful....

Baby's nursery

So, after our inconvenient timing with our crib's recall, here is the baby's nursery. I am well aware that the woods do not match, but what are we going to do?

The crib and changing table match (which my Mother-in-Law bought and brought us yesterday) and the dresser (Picture below) matches our twin bed that we have in storage. The toy box was made by my Step-Father-In-Law for Taylor's 1st birthday - but we have no where else to put it. He has two grandchildren (three with Taylor) that were born all born from Halloween through the end of January (what is that - 3 months?). Here is the crib and changing table. There are baskets on the changing table that contain diapers and wipes, bibs, towels and burp cloths. I bought espresso baskets from Signature Homestyles at a party I did last year. As well as the car seat sitting on top of the changing table.

This is the other side of the room. The white cabinet has blankets in it - the box on the dresser is a snack pack that a friend made me for when the baby is born! (How sweet!!) The blanket on the glider was made by my parents. They have an Alpaca Ranch in Oregon, so this is made of pure alpaca.

So, with 10 days before my due date, the nursery is finally ready for the baby!!!

I walked 1.5 miles today and yesterday at 3 miles an hour (quick for a 9 month pregnant lady!!)

Age question answered!

Well, since I found out I was pregnant, the question remained if I would be 32 when I delivered (prior to 38w, 2d) or if I would be 33 (after 38w, 3d). Well, I turned 33 today, so that question is answered. So far, we made breakfast, I walked on the treadmill, got ready and went to lunch at Red Lobster. After lunch I came home and took a nap. :o) Now, we are having family over in about an hour for a pizza dinner. I will focus mainly on salad so I can have a piece of my fabulous ice cream cake from Coldstone. Okay, I linked the cakes, I have the peanut butter playground in my freezer as I type. I wanted to dig into it earlier....

So far, the husband gave me a Starbucks giftcard, I got $25 from my parents and $20 from my FIL. I am already planning to go next week for a pedicure so I have pretty feet when I have this baby. Of course, I have already had my fair share of contrax, so I guess I would let baby come out even if I have ugly feet!

3rd tri fatigue?!

Well, yesterday was a lazy day and I did not walk again! Is this 3rd trimester fatigue?

Well, I do know one thing. This baby better come out with hair. I had the worst heartburn ever the other night after the H made chili. It wasn't even spicy and I asked him if he should put some chili powder in it so you can taste the spice. :o) We ate at 5:30 and at 10:15 I was still in pain after 6 tums. Last night we had a smoked pork roast and I had to take 4 tums. I am ordered to buy more today since the bottle will not make it another 12 days (or 14 to my induction date).

I'm a slacker!

Well, I did not walk yesterday.

I also did not sit down for a break until after 7 pm, so I think it is okay.... I took the girls to play with friends at the play mall and did sit and chat while I watched the kids for that 2 hours. My key to sanity is to dress them in the same color when they will be in a crowd of kids. Weather it be lime green, pink, purple, yellow - to only look for one color is priceless.


So I went grocery shopping after I met the H for lunch. He kept the girls at home and I got to shop all alone. Unfortunately I had to inquire at Wal-Mart about the Simplicity Crib recalls. Yeah... this was our crib... We had to take it apart and return it to Wal-Mart. In my surprise they gave us a cash exchange for it. They only had 2 cribs in stock at Wal-Mart, neither that we liked, so we went to Target and bought a new crib there.

I am getting ahead of myself.... I got home from grocery shopping and unloaded $200 worth of groceries and because our model number was on recall, I then began to take the crib apart - after calling the store and they said that I could not keep the changer part... (Boo!) So.... We took the crib apart and returned it to Wal-Mart. We bought a new crib at Target and by the end of the night, I had the new crib put together and ready for baby to arrive. We still need the matching changing table - but they didn't have it in stock.... but it is better than thinking if you have the baby he/she may end up sleeping in the bouncer or swing upon coming home! :o) I will post pics of the new crib soon.